


Gold & Venom

by princesscyr



Category: Fortnite (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Mental Instability, Midas and Jules are siblings, Midas needs to learn how to be a good boy, Multi, Yellowjacket is a pushover, but they can work through this, this is such a cute crackship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26159590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princesscyr/pseuds/princesscyr
Summary: “Hmm, you don’t sound like yourself. You okay?” she asks playfully as she bites her lip.“Don’t do something you’ll regret Yellow,” he warns her, but it goes unheard.- An AU in which an idiot golden king has a quest to regain everything he lost, and ends up falling in love with a particular girl along the way.
Relationships: Fade/Siona (Fortnite) (Background), Jules/Fusion (Fortnite), Midas/YellowJacket (Fortnite), X Lord/Wildcard (Fortnite) (Background)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	1. Zinc

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, this piece came to my mind when I stupidly skipped out on doing Chapter 2 Season 2. I never got a chance to get the Midas skin because of my stupid decision but he's still my favorite nonetheless because of the Greek myth. Plus hes cute. (I have Oro's skin but I'm waiting for Midas Rex to come out ya dig?)
> 
> This work is an alternative universe where Midas will have to learn how to take responsibility for his wrongdoings. He joins A.L.T.E.R. after Jules offers him immunity and along the way, he will meet Yellowjacket (a season 3 skin that's really cool I'm hella gay for her lol), a new agent to the agency, who doesn't seem to fear him at all.
> 
> Jules will be considered as Midas' younger sister in this. This is a crackship, so it's purely made up. I just think they're both very cute and they'd work together well. Chapters will be named after metals/precious metals because Midas deserves that kind of respect, our precious metal boy. Basically everything has gone wrong in Midas' life, which includes his old agents turning on him as well.
> 
> Update 30/8/20: Mistakenly called Midas Skyes father figure, they're not too far apart in age, he's more like a brother to her! My bad.  
> Update 9/9/20: didnt edit skyes letter until now, made sure it said brother and not father, my bad

Midas didn’t think that his life could get any worse after The Agency blew up. The failure of the Doomsday Device he and Jules worked on was the big monkey wrench that foiled everything. So here he was, drifting on a small boat near Sweaty Sands. Two months ago he narrowly avoided getting eaten by a Loot Shark, turning the sea creature into gold in a last-ditch effort to get away. Whatever was left of The Agency after the explosion, he had given to Jules, in hopes she would rebuild it. Jules did not reject this as he thought she would have. Instead, she took the offer and gave him one last hug before she took off into the chaos. That was almost 3 months ago and the hatred he felt towards everything in this insufferable island just kept growing, and it was reaching its tipping point.

Today was day 87. Day 87 of drifting in the ocean, moving from his sleeping cot and back out onto the deck to see where he was. He could have made his way to the shore but that would be too obvious. Midas knew he was a wanted man and he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bounty on his head. He was a successful man, a spy boss for one of the most powerful agencies on the island. He ruled with a golden fist and he was both respected and feared. He could make armies crumble with his golden touch. He had all the money in the world and had all sorts of riches: jewelry, clothes, and even some of the most expensive things in the world. He took his power and used it to build an empire, and now he was nothing. Nothing but a shell of what he once was. A small man with a golden touch but no power, no riches.

He was getting used to the serene environment around him. From the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore, to the sounds of seagulls squawking and looking for food. He reaches into his pocket for his smokes, he was a big fan of the Marlboro kind and pulled out his golden lighter. If there was one thing he was glad to have saved, it was his cigarettes. He would have lost his sanity if he didn’t have them. He could go without his scotch, certainly, but not his cigarettes. He had to ration his happy sticks, 1 stick a week. The black-haired man lit the cig before taking a long drag. He heaved a sigh, looking ahead.

“I need to figure out my next move, it has been almost 3 months, and I’m still at square one.” He speaks to nobody in particular.

He stomps out his cigarette later, moving back towards his sleeping chamber. That’s when it happened. In the distance, he hears what sounds like a motorboat revving its engine. Followed by another, and another. Growing a bit nervous, Midas reaches for the tactical shotgun he hid near his cot since he didn’t have his Drum Gun anymore. He cocks his shotgun, preparing for a potential attack. Soon enough, the sounds of the motorboats get louder and closer. Midas was ready.

His boat had been surrounded by motorboats, boats in black and purple colors. Some carried two henchmen, some boats even had three. Each one with guns at the ready, so he knew he couldn’t make a run for it. Those motorboats carried rockets. Within the chaos, Midas did not hear someone get off the motorboat until he heard a slow clap followed by a deep laugh. Midas turned around, gun at the ready.

Fusion puts his hands up, “Now now, goldilocks, you’re going to make a big mistake doing that. I just want to talk, whatever happens after that… well, the choice is yours.”

Midas growled lowly, cocking the shotgun again, “Speak and make it fast, Fusion.”

The blue flamed man motions with two fingers for the others to lower their guns. “Midas, I thought we made it clear that you needed to scram if you wanted SHADOW to forget about you. It seems you either misunderstood, or you have a death wish.”

“Jules said nothing about me needing to “get lost”, flame boy.” Spat the tattooed man, “I’ve been off the radar since the incident—how did you know I was here?”

“It’s not hard to find a lanky man that has a golden touch.” Fusion cackled, motioning with his fingers again for all guns to go up. “Take your pick, or would you like to ride with me?”

When Midas didn’t answer, Fusion moves closer, his blue flames leaving a light trail behind him.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Goldilocks. Either way, you’re coming back with us. Except one of those ways, you’ll be dead and I’ll have to explain to Jules why I had to kill her big brother. Get the picture?” his voice was taunting, as though he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Midas himself, given the chance.

Midas throws the shotgun down, making sure to keep eye contact with Fusion as he did so.

“Fine. I’ll bite. But I wish to talk to my sister. _Alone_.”

Fusion grins, the flames on his face lighting up from contentment.

“Sure. We’ll let you two have your family reunion, but no funny business on the way there, or you’ll become swiss cheese, goldie.”

Jules was not the type of woman who cowered to men, and her older brother was no exception. While she and Midas had a decent sibling relationship, Midas still acted as though he was better than her. It’s that cocky attitude that got him to this point. His arrogance caused the engineers to rush the construction of the Doomsday Device and the machine's eventual failure, resulting in the flood that wiped out the island. At the time of this, she was just an engineer who worked for Shadow that went behind the agency’s back to work with her brother.

Now, at the humble age of 18, she was a spy boss. She took The Agency’s remains to The Authority and rebuilt everything. Now she ruled with an iron fist, not letting people treat her like she was an arrogant child. She was the opposite of what her older brother had become. The last time she saw him was before the flood, and she neglected to tell him that he should never come back. To go far away and start a new life—that he will be forgotten by the agency if he did that. Deep down, she didn’t want him to go. He was the only family she had left.

To a stranger, one would think Midas and Jules were twins. The trademark black hair and the full-body tattoos, but Jules was younger than Midas, who was only 23 years old. Their personalities were opposites. Jules wasn’t very social while Midas was charismatic and confident. Midas resembled his father more in terms of behavior and actions while Jules was more like her mother with her grace and patience. Growing up together, Jules was more favored by her parents than Midas was, as she was the only daughter and she wasn’t a troublemaker like Midas was. Jules knew Midas held resentment for her, and whether or not he’d admit it, she _knew_ he held it. She loved her brother very much, but she also resented him right back for blaming her over their parents favoring her, as if that was her fault.

Jules heard a knock on her office door which caused her to turn around in her chair with a sigh, taking her attention away from an engineering manual she was looking at.

“Come in.”

Four henchmen step in, two of which were holding a handcuffed Midas. Fusion followed behind them, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“I did as you asked, Boss. Here he is in the flesh.” Fusion declared proudly.

Jules leans back in her seat, her eyes glancing over her brother as if she didn’t recognize him.

“Midas.” She clicks her tongue at the henchmen, who force Midas to sit down in the chair in front of her desk.

Midas hissed in pain, glaring at the henchmen.

“A bunch of incompetent monkeys. They swarmed me, I wasn’t doing anything. I was by myself enjoying the sea.” He sneers, glaring at his younger sister with disdain.

“Hey, aren’t you guys going to get rid of these cuffs, or am I some high-risk threat and you’ll throw me into a cell after you’re done with me?” Midas barked at the henchmen as well as Fusion, who were walking away.

When he doesn’t get an answer, he looks back to his sister with a ‘uncuff me?’ face.

Jules shakes her head, “I’m not removing those cuffs just yet. You and I are going to have a chat and you’re going to listen to what I have to say.”

Midas scoffs, “Oh please, you think because you’re the big spy boss now that you think you’re better than me? Because newsflash, doll, you’re not.”

“Maybe you’re right. I neglected to tell you before the accident that you need to leave this island and never come back. To start a new life on your own. We were willing to forget about you. Instead, I showed weakness by hugging you, because I was afraid you’d die. That’ll never happen again, however, so don’t worry.” She answers him, straightening up in her chair, her expression void of any emotion.

“I know there was a catch to that. There always is. You’d send a spy after me to make sure I stayed away. But guess what, Julia?” he leans forward in his seat as well, smiling perfectly so she can see his teeth both gold and white, “You’ll never get rid of me. You will always be that scared little girl who runs to mommy and daddy whenever something goes wrong. You have no good qualities about you except for your engineering. But I know you. I know you better than you’d like to accept. You’ll make a big mistake by not killing me.”

Jules clenches her jaw, standing up to make her way over to him. Compared to Midas, she stood at 5’3”. He was a good 6’5”.

“A mistake, maybe. But I think you can redeem yourself here. You are a poor excuse for a man, Midas. You always have been. You’re insufferable, cocky, and you hide behind your golden world to avoid any backlash. In reality, you’re just a lonely little man with a crumbled empire that’ll never get rebuilt. So here’s what we’re going to do,” she starts as she reaches into her utility belt for the cuff key.

After she frees Midas from his cuffs, he rubs his wrists before looking at her again as though he was waiting for her to finish speaking.

“You’ll be working for me. You’ll be seen but not heard. No missions. Think of it as an internship, but you’ll be paid and have free room and board here. You’ll do all the filing, transcribing… you’ll even have your own office. You’ll take orders from me and anyone who is above you in ranking and you’ll do exactly as you’re told. You will also be safe here, as you’ll be doing low profile jobs around this agency. Nobody outside of our agency will know you are alive and well. Along with that, you will also be an overseer for the engineering wing, you’ll supervise any work they do. You’ll keep track of their progress and I expect the report on my desk by 6 PM on the dot. Every. Single. Day.” She drawls out the last part of what she says, as though Midas was incompetent.

“And if I don’t accept your lovely job offer? It is lovely by the way, I never knew my work skills would bring me to this point of my life,” he comments sarcastically, almost insulted that he’d be offered such a basic job in the first place.

“If you don’t accept, then you’ll be in a nice 5 by 7 cell with no privacy, the henchmen will watch you piss, poop, eat and sleep. I’m sure that’s not a very comfortable outcome for you, Midas. I won’t lie, a lot of people here want you dead, but I’ve managed to convince them to spare you just this one time. I strongly suggest you take me up on this offer.”

Midas goes back to glaring at her, “So you’re going to hold everyone's resentment of me over my head as a way to get me to join you? Are you mad, darling?” he snaps at her.

Jules shrugs, “I think my proposition is really good, Midas. Think about it, you get to live. You’ll have your own office and own space to sleep. All you have to do… is do as you are told.”

Midas looks away from her, trying not to pout. Even if he had nothing, he was being offered immunity and any sane person would accept that over being stuck in a room with a few agents who are ready to kill, and they’ve killed for a lot less.

After a few moments of silence, Midas huffs, “I suppose I can accept the offer. So long as you give me a tour of this place. This building is a lot bigger than what The Agency once was.” He counteroffers, to which Jules gives him an accepting shrug.

“I can give you a tour of our agency. Bigger is an understatement, though.” She says with a hint of pride.

The Authority was made in Jules’ image of Midas. Its walls loomed over the surrounding mass of water, the building overlooked Salty Springs. Before the big flood, Jules had a foolproof plan to surround the building with high metal walls, to prevent severe flood damage. When the flood came, some water did get into the perimeter of the walls, a few feet away from the building. The building, while it looked small from an outside perspective, the inside was huge. With over one hundred rooms and underground bunkers, The Authority can function smoothly as possible. Recruits were trained in the training wing, where they receive intense training in a classroom as well as the sparring gym. Classes start the moment sunrise begins and ends at sunset, every single day. There was a cafeteria within the training wing for the recruits to replenish their hunger after long, hard training hours.

As Jules leads Midas down to the training wing, Midas could feel all eyes on him. He knew he was deeply hated around here but at the same time, he felt a sense of superiority and safety. He was safe. These people can’t do anything, so long as he stays on Jules’ good side. Surely, he could get away with some things, right?

“You’ll be proud to know that I have used your methods of training for these future agents, Midas. These agents have an equal opportunity to succeed with the trainers I have personally hired. Your dream of an ideal system hasn’t died.” Jules explains casually as the two siblings pass by a group of chatty recruits, who all greet Jules with respect.

“Good afternoon Boss,” one of the groupies greets her with a smile and a nod of his head.

Jules returns the gesture, “Afternoon, recruits. I’m assuming you are heading back to class now? Lunch just ended didn’t it?”

As the groupie and Jules talk, Midas couldn’t help but feel eyes on him from the rest of the small group. They were off to the side, whispering and gesturing towards him.

_So even the recruits know who I am, huh?_ He thinks to himself.

He was used to that kind of treatment. Anywhere he went, if he wasn’t met with respect, he was met with fear. Unsettled glances and people afraid to look him in the eye, for they too, were under the ignorant belief that looking him in the eye means they’ll turn to gold. That wasn’t to say he didn’t have a fanbase of his own, though. Women who admired him for his good looks, his charismatic personality, and overwhelming confidence. He used to remember getting love letters every week when he’d pick up the mail for The Agency. Some letters were sweet, nearly flattering to him while some were… concerning. Creepy letters such as how they wanted to have children with him or help him run his empire. Midas had no desire for having a love life, much less offspring. He was a monster, or at least he accepted himself as such, and bringing a child into the world would just be bringing in a smaller monster of himself.

Midas crosses his arms, giving the whispering groupies a stone-cold look.

“Do we have a problem here? A reason you feel the need to stare me down?” he sneers, causing them to stop whispering, some squeaking in surprise.  
“N-No sir,” a girl speaks up, “We were just admiring your tattoos. They l-look nice.”

Jules looks over at the sudden commotion, sighing as the group trembles at Midas. “Midas, stop it. People are allowed to look at you. You have tattoos for heaven's sake!” she hisses at him, gesturing him to come beside her.

Midas huffs, mumbling a thank you to the girl who spoke up for the compliment, but he wasn’t biting easily.

“Let's go. I’ll show you one of the classes that’s on right now. You recruits have a good day now. Train and study hard!”

Jules leads Midas down a side hallway away from all the commotion. The hall was quiet as the recruits were already in class. Jules walked up to one of the classroom doors and knocked three times before letting herself in. It seemed that Jules had walked in on the middle of the instructor teaching the class more advanced attack movements. The instructor, whose name was Riptide lit up when he saw her.

“Everybody, what a wonderful surprise! Boss Jules has stopped by to say hello!” there was a cheery tone to the bearded instructor's voice, one could assume he held her to the highest regard.

The class, which consisted of 12 men and 12 women, grouped by twos, all greeted their future boss. They were in the middle of a battle exercise, where Riptide was showing his recruits how to properly body slam somebody. However, when Midas stepped in behind her, the teacher visibly tenses up to which Jules gives him a curt smile as if to reassure him that all was well.

“This is my older brother, Midas. He will be working under The Authority now. He will collect any mission files you give him, as well as answer any questions you may have during your time in this agency.” Jules explains to the class.

“Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Midas greets, bowing respectfully.

Of course, the girls in the class were trying to contain their excitement, all except for one. Midas made immediate eye contact with the quiet girl, eyebrows raised with mild surprise. He was usually used to every girl fawning over him. She seemed disinterested, just nodding her head at him in acknowledgment.

_Curious…_ he figures, clearing his throat towards his sister, “Shall we continue with the tour, doll?” he asks Jules, who nods and says her goodbyes along with good luck to the class.

The girl’s eyes never left Midas though. Her gaze followed, almost like she was curious but also not interested in the hype about him. He gave her a curt smile and a nod before following his sister out, to which the girl sighs and rolls her eyes after his departure.

Jules continued the tour by showing Midas where he would be working which was a decent sized office space with a big desk and dual monitor set up. There was enough space on the desk to put nice decorations.

_Shame,_ Midas thinks to himself, _I don’t have any of my belongings._

“Oh and,” Jules pulls Midas out of his thoughts, “We can provide decorations if needed. I know you’re picky but you could always gold coat them if it’ll make it more bearable for you.”

Midas shrugs, “it's fine, I’ll make do with what I have.”

“Well, the last stop is your room. It’ll be far away from the other agents, mainly for your safety. You’ll get a keycard similar to the ones you gave your agents, which only you will have access to your room, plus the authorized areas you’ll need access to as well.” She motions in front of herself so he can walk ahead.

Two flights of stairs later and Midas lost his breath at the top of the stairs, at the sight before him. This area was the dormitory, with its halls beautifully decorated with gunmetal wallpaper, along with a furry black carpet. Near the stairs, he sees a sign that says, “No food or water in the hallway, please preserve the carpet.”

“Do people follow this sign?” he asks, actually chuckling to himself that a sign of this caliber had to be placed.

“No, but I believe it’s not a problem so long as I don’t see it. We kept that sign up for Chaos Agent when he was still alive, as he did monthly inspections. So no, no one follows the rules here, Midas. Just don’t get caught, simple as that.” She replies as she leads him down another long hallway.

Towards the end of the long hallway, there was a door. Jules swipes her keycard and when the door beeps, she opens the door, revealing a presidential suite type room. Midas stopped in his tracks when he saw exactly how big it was.

Though empty, the room had a lot of space. This included a walk-in closet and a walk-in bathroom, the bathroom is a bonus for Midas because he sure didn’t feel like risking his life every night here to go across the hall just to pee.

Jules pats his arm, “Just because things are bad right now, doesn’t mean I’ll treat you any less than family.”

Midas gives her a small smile, his heart swelling up slightly at that.

A knock on the door gets both sibling's attention. Two henchmen stood in the doorway, holding boxes.

Jules politely excuses herself, leaving Midas to take in the room some more. He could hear them murmuring and whispering to one another before Jules takes one of the boxes with a kind smile and guides the henchmen away.

_I don’t understand why she’s being so nice to me_ , Midas thinks with a slight frown, _I don’t even deserve this act of kindness, especially from her._

He stops trying to think about it, he’s not here to make amends with her. But his mind insisted on thinking about it. He’s here to get back what he rightfully deserves. His empire that crumbled too early. It has always been this way. Don’t take anyone’s kindness, you never know what their true intentions are until you’re too far in, was a quote he learned while growing up. His father was a good example of this, his constant reminder towards Midas that he owed him everything, simply because he brought him into the world.

 _What about Jules?_ A question formed in his head, _she was never told she owed father anything at all. It was always me._

He ends up reacting angrily by putting his hand against the wall, the area around his hand turning into solid gold. Every wall of the room followed suit until the room was all shiny gold. This included the floor, the door, the closet, and the bathroom.

 _She is so, so lucky she never has to be me, and that’s what angers me the most_ , his mind seethes.

Midas, still angry, heads back to his new office. He wanted to get a feel for it, maybe even add a golden touch to it. As he used a temporary keycard to get in, his eye lands on 2 boxes on the desk with his name on it. He approaches the desk, curiosity getting the best of him. Inside the boxes were a lot of his belongings, some damaged by the water, but the rest were in decent condition because of the gold touch.

Reaching into the box, his anger was replaced by a sudden pang of sadness in his stomach. He pulled out a picture frame of his old agent team. Skye, Meowscles, and Maya, the ones he was the closest to. They were all posed for some goofy picture they took at Retail Row a few months before the disaster. The water had damaged the photo, making Midas’ face look warped and distorted, while the rest of the photo was in pristine condition. He frowns at this, but the pang in his stomach only grew more when he pulled out a folded note with some water damage. He figured he wouldn’t be able to make out the words on it because of the water, but opened it anyway, curiosity piquing his interest.

_Midas,_

_By the time you have received this or find it or whatever, I’ll already be gone. I want to say thank you first and foremost for raising me all these years. You found me when I was only 11 years old. You weren’t much older than me and I still looked up to you as a brother. You gave me hope when nobody else did, and that is why I need to write this. Your selfish actions involving the Doomsday Device has left a trauma that will never heal. How could you be so selfish, Midas? Why did you think using that device would be a good idea? I know you had good intentions—you wanted to end the chaotic storm once and for all and you figured that device would be the solution. It wasn’t, because many people died. People lost their homes, jobs, anything and everything you could think of. I risked my life to protect you, just so you could activate that fucking thing and now I see that it wasn’t worth it. Don’t try to look for me, because you won’t find me. I’ve gone far away. There will be no point in sending someone to make sure I’m okay because there is nobody left. They all died with the flood. The flood you caused. You did all you could to help me, and I, you. To think, we could have celebrated my 17 th birthday had you not set off that device. I’m sorry if this has come off harsh or it is too long and you don’t have the patience to read it. I love you very much, but you have caused such deep pain for me that I fear you. I truly fear you. I thought I knew everything about you but it seems like I don’t. Do you feel any remorse for what you’ve done? I beat myself up for thinking like that, thinking that the man I looked up to as my brother could be a cold-hearted murderer, but that’s all I can think of. That’s why I’m writing this to you. I don’t know where Maya, Meowscles, or Tina are. They may feel differently about you as well. _

_I don’t wish any ill-like things to happen to you, but you will be alone if you continue to act the way you do. Whether or not you leave the island and make a new life for yourself, that’s your choice. I know I promised I’d stay by your side forever because that’s what friends do, but I can’t live with myself doing that for you. I hope one day you open your eyes and realize what a monster you’ve become, and that you can fix yourself before you end up alone forever. Nothing is worse than being in a room full of people and still feeling so alone._

_Goodbye, Midas. You did so much for me, and I’ll always appreciate that._

_-Skye_

Midas didn’t even realize his hands were shaking violently as he read the note. Every word brought pain to him as if he was shot. He didn’t notice he had turned everything in that box to gold until he had thrown it at the adjacent wall, causing a loud crash.

“How could you be so appreciative of me and then turn around and call me a monster?!” He yells to nobody in particular.

Tears clouded his gold eye but he tried his hardest to not cry.

“Crying is for the weak, and I’m _not_ weak.” He tells himself, clenching his golden fists tightly.

 _Stop showing emotions, you fucking coward,_ a voice in his mind scolded him.

Midas bitterly snorts, “I will.”

 _Take back what is yours and rebuild your empire. Kill anyone who gets in the way. You have nothing to lose, after all. Jules doesn’t care about you, if she did, she would have left you alone instead of exposing you to this shit,_ the voice sounds almost taunting to him.

He tries to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm down and ignore the whispers drilling in his head, but the voices became the only thing he could hear. He couldn’t hear his breathing.

_You will rebuild a new agency. You just need to overthrow Jules. There are a lot of agents here with potential. Those who do not join—well, you could always make new statues._

He wasn’t going to let another person cross him again. While he loved Skye like a sister, the feeling of betrayal was strong right now. She assisted him with this device and she wants to turn around and make him out to be the monster? If she felt that way about him… how about Meowscles, Maya, and Tina? Perhaps that’s why there’s no letter from them. They couldn’t face him, while Skye could stand up to him. Perhaps Skye spoke up for them.

Never again. He won’t make the same mistake twice.


	2. Steel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Midas enjoys being called sir and has a slight mental breakdown.

The day Yellowjacket’s class graduated from agent training was the day Jules decided to throw an office pizza party. Jules had been so excited for the new agents to join the team she wanted them to feel welcomed. Who doesn’t like pizza anyway? Everyone was invited, including all the high ranking agents, henchmen, and additional staff. Midas refused to go until Jules called him a “boring bitch” and forced him to attend.

So here he was, standing in the corner. A frown was carved into his face as everybody else was having a good time. Current agents were introducing themselves to the new agents, new agents were expressing their excitement to work with them. Midas rolled his eyes as he saw Fusion grab three pepperoni slices to put on his paper plate.

“Sick party, Jules!” Fusion exclaims, taking a big bite out of one of the slices on his plate.

Jules grins at him, “Thank you! I think it’s nice we have more members within the agency now, don’t you?”

Midas watched as the two of them walked away. He took a sip of his fruit punch, glancing around the room. He stumbled forward when somebody ran into him, causing him to spill some of his fruit punch on the floor.

He turned around to glare at whoever ran into him before his gold eye met with big brown eyes. It took seconds before realization hit him. This was the same girl who would look at him and then roll her eyes. For the last two weeks they’d make eye contact every single day, whether it was when she’d pass by his office in the morning to talk to Jules, or at the breakroom midday, or when she’d come into his office to drop off her paperwork. When she’d come into his office, she’d try to avoid his gaze but always end up looking at him. At first, he thought his eye was playing tricks on him when he saw a light shade of pink dust along her face. After all, he did have trouble with vision having one eye. That reaction was consistent with every other meeting.

Midas was used to people fawning and fanning over him, pointing him out of a crowd and squealing. He wasn’t unattractive in the slightest, if anything he was almost every person’s ideal man. It humbled him that Yellowjacket would roll her eyes at him even when she’s blushing. They haven’t said a word to one another but Midas knew. He knew he affected her. He was always first to make moves, but this… this intrigued him. The way she would avoid his eyes for the first few seconds before looking back and rolling her eyes, a blush following soon after, or the way her lips turned into a pout when he’d initiate the starring contest, making her squirm as though she didn’t want him to look at her.

“Oh—“ she apologizes, her face turning pink quickly, “I’m so sorry sir, I wasn’t paying attention. Here, I can get you a new drink and clean up the mess—“

_I could get used to being called sir,_ he smirked, keeping the thought to himself.

His eye looked her over. She was shorter than him, standing at 5’8” with her boots. She must’ve been 5’5” without them. Yet here she was, looking up at him with her hands on her hips.

She scowls at him, “Are you just going to stand there and stare at me? Ugh, you’re so weird!” she rolls her eyes, squirming under his gaze.

Midas chuckles, “I’m not the one who rolls my eyes at strangers, Doll. Judgmental much?”

“Whatever,” she huffs as she takes a paper napkin from the nearby table to clean up the mess.

Yellowjacket tried to hide her blush as she wiped the floor. It was his voice and British accent that made her shiver. This was her boss’s brother and here she was making a fool of herself by walking into him and spilling his drink. At the same time, she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

After wiping up the mess she stands up to dispose of the napkin, her back facing Midas.

“Aren’t you going to get my drink?” he asks.

Yellow turns to look at him, “I was, but then I noticed you have two working hands and the punch bowl is right next to you.” She gestures towards the punch bowl that’s on the table beside them.

He looks into her eyes this time, a smirk plastered on his face.

“You’re right, here…” he trails off, his gold hand immediately going to her hip.

The sudden action stunned Yellow as she watched him use his free hand to grab a cup while leaning into and around her, keeping his hand on her hip. He kept eye contact with her and seeing her squirm in his hold made him squeeze her hip as if he was telling her to stay still. She stopped moving with a frown on her face.

Once he got his drink, he released his grip on her hip. She had the same frown on her face while a smile grew on his.

“You should stop frowning, darling. It’s not a good look on you.” He looks her over again, pleased with his work done on her.

Yellows face felt like it was on fire and the frown soon dropped off her face and was replaced by a pout, “I’m—“ her voice higher than normal when she realized what he had said to her.

This golden hoe just told her to smile. Her next reaction was priceless. She snatches the drink out of his hand before throwing it at him.

“You fucking dick!” she shouts, causing the music to be cut short and everyone to look over at both of them.

She throws the cup at him next, “Don’t you ever touch me again and then expect me to smile as if you did me a favor!”

She excuses herself, quickly moving towards the exit without looking back at him. Midas stood there speechless, his clothes now soaked in fruit punch and everyone was staring at him. When he would look to the others, they would avoid his gaze or shake their head at him. Others would scoff and blame him, telling him how his humiliation is the best part of the party. This situation was almost as bad as the time he was nearly eaten by a shark, but the shark wasn’t as cute as Yellow.

With everyone looking at him, Midas began to get annoyed. His ego was wounded, to be embarrassed this way in front of everyone by a woman was humiliating.

“Why do you all insist on looking at me?! The situation ended! Stop fucking looking at me!” he snaps, the gold from his hands beginning to creep up his arms slowly.

“Calm down, Midas. You don’t need to make a scene out of this,” one of the henchmen nearby warned him, his voice firm.

That was the cherry on top of Midas’ angry sundae. Immediately he moved back to the table, placing his hand down on it. The table had begun to turn into solid gold, causing some of the party-goers to look at each other with panic. A few of the henchmen started to approach Midas, but Jules called them off with a click of her tongue. Confused, they backed off. All they could do is obey their boss and entrust she has the situation under control.

Jules made a move to approach him, only to jump back when he lifts the now golden table and flips it over, causing the punch bowl, napkins, and various food dishes to fall with it. The other party-goers ran away in a panic, most of them were screaming and others were trying to bring more henchmen into the room. The only people left in the room were Midas, Jules, and the few henchmen that were already present.

“Midas,” Jules starts, “You need to calm down right now. We need to talk in my office because this behavior is unacceptable and I expected better from you.”

At this point, most of Midas’ body was in gold, mainly his arms and upper part of his neck. He had a bit of a way to go before his face would turn gold.

“You expected _better_ from me?!” he yells, followed by laughter, “Who are you to demand such things of me, child?!”

“You are mad because a woman disrespected you. You need to get over that. You have no right to be mad here, you knew what you were getting into when you took my job offer.” Jules tries to reason with him, her voice calm.

“You forced me to attend this shit fest you called a party, Jules.” He hisses, “Now I see why you did, this was your way of getting entertainment for the party. Fuck you.”

They stood there, glaring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The gold started to return to his hands slowly. Jules breaks the stare, clearing her throat.

“My office, shall we?” she asks him, to which he reluctantly accepted.

There was a tense silence between the two of them as they sat in her office. Midas was still wearing the same fruit punch stained clothes.

Jules broke the silence first, “Your behavior was uncalled for, Midas. I did not expect you to react the way you did. You do not know that agent you were speaking to, and yet you exploded because she threw a drink at you?”

Midas rolls his eye, “That’s not why I’m mad. Why do you deflect from the problem? I was annoyed because everyone was looking at me like I had committed some crime, and it became worse when I was told to calm down.”

“I’m not deflecting from anything. I saw the entire situation. You made a disrespectful comment to one of my agents and she reacted as such. Midas, I can’t believe I have to police everything you do. This isn’t your agency, do you understand?” she says as she rubs her face, mainly from stress, “This is my agency. I am your boss and you cannot disrespect my employees without some sort of discipline.”

“Your employees are disrespecting me as well, Julia. Throwing their files at me when my desk is right in front of them, poking fun at me as I’m passing the halls to get to the break room, the list goes on.” He argues.

“Reactions such as those are warranted. You’ve ruined people’s lives with your selfish behavior. I can only do so much for you, such as protecting you from harm. I cannot prevent the words that come from their mouths, nor will I stop it either.” She replies to him, spinning in her chair to face her cabinet.

Jules opens the cabinet drawer, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pen.

“I was going to make you sit in a cell for 3 days, but I think this will build some character in you. I want you to write a formal apology letter to Yellowjacket, for your inappropriate comment. I expect it to be a sincere, heartfelt apology. I will read it when you are done and if it’s to my satisfaction, I will sign off on it and bring it to her.” Jules explains as she sets the paper and pen down in front of him.

Midas groans, opening his mouth to complain, only to close it immediately when he saw the glare Jules was giving him. If looks could kill, he’d be liquid gold right now. So he starts to write an apology.

Forty-five minutes had passed and Jules was satisfied with Midas’ apology letter to Yellowjacket. She made sure he emphasized what an arrogant asshole he had been towards her and how it wouldn’t happen again. Jules signed off on the apology letter before she motioned for a henchman to come over.

“Please take this to Yellowjacket.” She ordered him.

The henchman nodded, taking his leave immediately to look for the agent.

“Get out of my sight, Midas. Go change your clothes and get back to work. You ruined the party and everyone’s day as well.” Jules dismisses him with a wave of her hand.

Midas frowns at her, but he got up, not wanting to anger her further.

He took his leave, walking to his room at a brisk pace. He took the elevator to avoid running into people, as he knew that word had spread fast about the party. He changed out of his stained clothes and put on fresh clothes before he made his way back to his office. He could feel the judgmental looks he was receiving from other agents and henchmen as he passed by. Midas never had to deal with this when he was a boss, it was easier just to kill people for looking at you wrong, or at the very least, look intimidating. But if there was something he learned from working at A.L.T.E.R. for a couple of weeks now, it was that these people have nothing to lose. They have killed for a lot less. Midas knew there was a target on the back of his head. The question is, who will get to him first?

Midas makes it into his office, shutting the door and moving over to his desk. Opening his desk drawer, he pulls out his bottle of scotch and a cigarette. A wave of sadness hits him but was drowned out with the first sip of his drink. Instead, loneliness crept up. It had been a while since he socialized with anybody that wasn’t in his agency. The people he could socialize with at ease were gone, replaced by others who do not want anything to do with him. He had a confident exterior that hid the deep self-loathing within him. He takes a drag from his cigarette while his mind races with thoughts of the party. Midas knew he had made a mistake, the girl was being nice to him and he had to go and make an unnecessary comment. He hoped the apology letter would be enough. He could settle with her avoiding him like the plague, though part of him hopes that wouldn’t be the case.

Yellowjacket had gone down to the training room to let off some steam. She couldn’t believe the nerve of that man. Who did he think he was? Just because he’s the boss's brother doesn’t mean he’s immune from the consequences of his actions. She kicks the practice dummy so hard, its body flies off the metal pole holding it in place. The practice dummy lands against the wall mat, falling to the ground with a thud. Yellow moves onto the next practice dummy and her friend, Siona watches her in amusement.

“What’s got you so worked up, girl?” she asks as she rushes over to pick up the dummy.

Yellow punches the next dummy, her fist hitting it made a soft thud.

“Bosses brother was being a creep so I threw his drink at him.” She replies as she hits the dummy harder this time.

“The golden king? Huh, I thought he didn’t talk to anyone. He’s usually a loner when I see him.” Siona shrugs.

“What do you mean—“ Yellow was cut off by the rough clearing of someone’s throat.

Both girls turn to look at who made the sound, it was a henchman.

“Excuse me, ladies, I have an apology letter from Midas addressed to Yellowjacket.” the man read out the name on the envelope.

Yellow, who was still annoyed and becoming confused approaches the henchman, “Yeah, that’s me? He wrote me a letter…?” she asks.

“Yes ma’am. Ms. J required that he write you a formal apology for his disrespectful outburst at today’s party.”

Yellow took the letter but refused to read it. She looked more offended than she did at the party.

“And he expects me to accept his apology because he wrote me a letter? Fuck no, tell him to go fuck himself and apologize to my face. Ridiculous, has he no shame?” she pushes the letter towards the henchman who grabs it and accepts her request.

“Yes ma’am, I will deliver the message to him. I do apologize if I have inconvenienced you with this.” With that, the man takes his leave, heading back to Midas’ office.

Midas was half a bottle in when there was a knock on his office door.

“Come in,” Midas slurred.

The henchman stepped in with the apology letter in hand.

“Sir, Yellowjacket has requested me to tell you that you can go fuck yourself and that you need to apologize to her in person, and that apology letters are stupid. She is down in the gym right now, do you need an escort?” they ask him, handing him the apology letter.

Midas sighs, “I guess there's no other option, give me a second—“ he hiccups, “Give me a second and I’ll be right out.”

“You are drunk, sir? Not a good impression to be making on a lady of her caliber, but I digress.” They state, shrugging.

“Hey, I don’t critique what you do in your life, henchman, don’t do it to me.” He barks, setting the bottle of scotch back in his desk drawer, slamming it shut.

The henchman acknowledged his reply with a nod, waiting for Midas to gather his bearings. Once Midas joins him, they set off to the gym to talk to Yellowjacket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the kudos, im glad some people took the time to read the first chapter, as always let me know if i need to improve on anything, this is all a learning experience for me.


	3. Osmium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas is an idiot and it really shows.

The henchman had enough patience to hold onto Midas as he had been stumbling, though the golden man insisted on walking on his own. This led to him almost falling down the stairs because he missed a step.

“How much did you drink, sir?!” the henchman asks, visibly worried about the man’s physical state.

“Half a bottle, and it’s not any of that cheap shit either,” Midas slurs as he holds onto the henchman without fighting this time.

The henchman shakes his head, “Are you sure you want to apologize to Agent Yellowjacket while you are like this?”

Midas lets out an exaggerated sigh, “Yes, now fuckin’ stop talking and take me in there before I change my mind, will you?”

“…Yes sir.” The henchman stops arguing with him as he pushes the gym door open.

Yellow is in the middle of sparring practice with Fade. Her friend Siona is overseeing the match. Yellow hears her blow the whistle, which signals a new round. Fade takes a step back as he produces a new rift. Thinking quickly, Yellow runs towards Fade which causes him to step through the rift, making him disappear for a moment, only to reappear at the other side of the gym seconds later. She started to become tired as she attempted to keep up. This sparring practice would have been easier for her if she had been fighting someone who didn’t have powers or at least rift powers. After chasing Fade through the dozens of rifts he produced, Yellow hears the whistle blow again, stopping her from what she was doing. She looks to Siona, curious as to why they had to stop. That’s when Yellow hears it. The loud babbling and drunken laughter from the other side of the gym. When she looks in the direction the noise had been coming from, a look of sheer disbelief paints her face. The henchman from earlier is carrying a drunk Midas at his side, a look of embarrassment on his face.

“Are you serious?” she asks, still in disbelief at what she is seeing.

“I am sorry ma’am, I found him like this. He insisted on apologizing to you, despite almost falling down the stairs earlier on the way down here.” He replies.

Midas looks up, his babbling ceasing when his eye catches the sight in front of him. Yellow wasn’t wearing the yellow jacket he normally sees her in. Instead, she is wearing a black body con romper that hugs all of her curves perfectly. It stops mid-thigh and she wore combat boots that stopped at her knees. Despite being drunk, the feeling of sobriety hits him like a bus. He clears his throat, holding onto the henchman just in case if he loses balance.

“I came here to apologize to you, Agent Yellowjacket—“ he starts, a hiccup escaping from his lips, “I’m sorry for being rude to you.”

Siona scoffs, offense clear on her face, “You are drunk and you plan to apologize to my friend that way?”

Yellow tries to speak up, “Siona, I can handle this—“

“Like hell I’ll let him treat you like this!” Siona cuts her off. “Listen here, golden boy! My friend right here deserves a sincere apology, not some half-assed, full drunk apology that you’ll probably forget you’ve done in the morning!” She crossed her arms as she gave Midas the most judgmental glare possible.

Midas sneers, pushing himself away from the henchman. “Do you—“ he hiccups, “Do you know who you’re talking too, doll?”

Yellow moves to stand between them.

“Okay, we’re not doing this. Come on,” She says as she grabs Midas’ arm and pulls him along.

She pulls him away from the others to the other side of the gym, the entire time Midas is laughing.

“Woahhh! At least take me to dinner first, babydoll!” he slurs with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Yellow shoves Midas against the wall mat, making him let out an “oof” in surprise. She crosses her arms, a look of annoyance evident on her face despite a light shade of red creeping up from the pet name. They barely knew each other but he can make her blush just by calling her that.

“Is this how you handle yourself when confronted with your behavior? Getting drunk and making a fool of yourself?” she asks him.

Midas snorts, “Pfff, no! I always drink, doll. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed—“ he hiccups, “haven’t noticed, since you walk by my office all the time.”

_He seems more relaxed when he’s drunk,_ she thinks to herself, noting how flushed his face is. It complimented his pale complexion, also making his golden eye a little bit brighter.

She mentally scolds herself for looking him over but she couldn’t help it. There is something about him that made her feel attracted to him, perhaps it is the mystery that shrouds him that makes her curious about him. She had heard enough about him during training, as he was the one who built the Doomsday Device that flooded out the entire island. He was called the king because his golden touch got him whatever he wanted and he could destroy everything and everyone who got in his way. It fascinated her that a man of his caliber could have done all of this only to lose it all and become just another normal human being. Maybe it is the sound of his voice that brings butterflies to her stomach. It could be his tattoos or overall appearance that makes her want to stare at him for hours until he reciprocates the action, and then she could pout about it.

Yellow is pulled out of her thoughts when she feels his golden thumb graze her cheek. He looks down at her with a sultry look on his face that made her tremble.

“You’re staring,” his voice deep, almost teasing, “If you keep staring at me then I’ll have to kiss you, _ma chérie_ _._ ”

Immediately, Yellow Is taken aback by hearing Midas speak in French. He was wearing a smirk on his face, proud of the reaction he got out of her. Her lips part as if she wants to say something, but she moves away from his touch instead, “Okaaaay, you are very drunk!”

Midas pouts, a look of hurt on his face, “Now why did you have to move away for? You have pretty eyes, I could look at them forever!”

Yellow could feel other people’s eyes on her, which made her more flustered than she thought would be possible. With Midas talking loudly, it is no surprise people would be looking at them.

“Where’s your room? You need to go to bed, I can help you.” She asks, looking around at anything that wasn’t Midas.

“I don’t want to go to bed! I just want to apologize to you and you’re not even giving me the chance, doll!” he whines, crossing his arms and stomping his foot as if he is a toddler.

“I’m not going to accept an apology from someone inebriated! Now march, mister!” she commands, pointing towards the exit doors at the other side of the gym.

When Midas doesn’t move, Yellow throws her arms up in frustration, “Fine! Stand there and look like a clown! I don’t have time to put up with this when I have a whole training exercise to finish!”

She turns to leave him, making her way towards Fade and Siona who were watching them from a safe distance.

Midas follows her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back towards him, “I am not a clown, how rude of you to say that! Just who do you think you are? The princess of the island?” he slurs, his grip cold but firm.

Yellow gasps when he grabs her wrist and she tries to pull away forcefully, but his grip remains firm. She can see the liquid gold on his wrists creep up his arm. She could hear Siona and Fade call out to her, worry laced in their voices. She swallows hard, looking up at the golden man, wide eyes meeting a gold one.

 _Don’t show him you’re scared. Don’t give him what he wants. He lives off of the fear of others,_ she tries to mentally remind herself, though she feels herself start to shake.

“Got quite the mouth for someone who can’t get out of my grip, doll,” he points out with a smirk, shaking her arm.

People were gathering around at this point, most were watching while others were talking and pointing at them. No one stepped in to stop the situation from escalating.

“Let go.” She warns him, trying to pull her wrist away again.

He still would not let go. Instead, he laughs, tightening his grip. “Or what? What’re you going to do, doll? I’m waiting, tell me.”

Everything happened so fast. Yellow remembers her fist colliding with the golden man’s face, a loud crack echoing throughout the building. She remembers being pulled off of Midas by the henchmen as he screams in pain, calling her many foul names and clutching his now bloody nose as he laid on the ground. She remembers seeing a woman with long green hair and black glasses rushing in with a green medical kit, shouting at the henchmen to tell her what happened as she goes to Midas’ side. Yellow is promptly escorted out of the gym by the henchmen.

Midas immediately freaks out the second Toxin squats down by his side. “No, I don’t need your help! Fuck off!” he shouts at her, to which Toxin tuts at him.

“You don’t have a choice, Midas. Either I fix your nose or you can sport a big bandage on it for the next few weeks and it’ll make you the most unattractive person in this agency. Now stay still.” She commands, her voice firm but with a hint of impatience in her tone.

He shouts in pain when she sets his nose back into place, a few tears escaping from his eye.

“See? All better. You should be a little more grateful that I’m here. I’m the only medic The Authority has.” She tells him as he feels her pat his shoulder. She hands him some tissues to dab on his nose to get the bleeding to slow, which he takes with a quiet thanks. After a while of dabbing his nose, he sits up with a pained groan.

“Want to tell me what you did to piss that girl off? She hit you pretty hard.” Toxin questions the golden man, handing him more tissues.

He rolls his eye, “It was just a small disagreement—“

“I know you, Midas. It wasn’t just some small disagreement. That your girlfriend or something?” she insisted.

Midas’ face heats up at the word girlfriend. He frowns, embarrassment visible on his face. “No, are you out of your mind? That’s very unprofessional!” He crosses his arms and looks away, his face only growing redder by the second. 

Toxin chuckles. “Whatever you say, lame-o.” She stands up, offering her hand to help him up. He accepts it and she pulls him to his feet. “Come see me should the nose pain worsen, or you bleed for more than 3 days. Take pain killers and please cut back on the alcohol.” She explains to him.

Midas rolls his eye. “Yeah yeah, whatever Toxin. Thanks for the help I guess.”

“Also, just going to give you a little girl advice because you seem to be struggling, but you could be a little bit nicer to her. Girls like cheesy shit.” Toxin suggests.

“Thanks but I didn’t ask for your advice.” Midas shrugs her off. He didn’t need advice from her. Midas and Yellowjacket were just coworkers and he is unfortunate enough to have to deal with her daily. He watches her leave when he doesn’t answer her and sighs. He felt like a mess, his head hurt and so did his nose.

He decides to go back to his room, his office would not be comfortable enough for him to sleep in tonight. On his way back he couldn’t help but feel a small pang of guilt in his gut. He did feel bad for being disrespectful to her when she did nothing to him but at the same time, he didn’t like to be disrespected by anyone. Especially an agent. This wouldn’t have gone well for any of his agents if he were still a boss. Sure, he didn’t have to grab her the way he did but he was angry and had lost control.

Once he reaches his room, he stops dead in his tracks when he sees Jules waiting by the door, arms crossed as if she had been waiting for a while. He rolls his eye, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Jules now is not the time to—“ he starts.

“Shut up.” She interrupts him, opening his door and motioning for him to go inside. He obeys, preparing himself for another argument. She follows behind him, unintentionally slamming his golden door, the sound echoing throughout the hall.

Midas flops onto his bed, taking in the smell of his golden sheets. He was relieved to be in his room this time instead of his office, but it is short-lived by Jules slamming his stuff around.

“Wheres your hangover pills?” she asks in more of a demanding tone than a question. He groans, motioning towards his bathroom. She goes in there, and moments later he hears the rattling of a pill bottle and the sound of running water before she comes back out with the pills and a cup of water. She sets it on his nightstand.

“This is becoming repetitive.” She mutters to herself, stepping away from him and crossing her arms.

“Then leave me alone? I don’t know why you feel the need to watch my every movement, but it’s becoming annoying.” He speaks up, his voice monotone. He is looking up at the golden ceiling, following the gentle swaying of the gold chandelier with his eye.

“Can’t you be grateful that somebody gives a damn about you or are you going to stay on your lone wolf mentality? Two people complained about you today! Two agents complained about you assaulting another agent! Do you think this is the kind of shit I want in my agency?!” she snaps at him.

Midas sighs, closing his eye and taking a deep breath. He did not want to argue with his sister over this. Being given everything in her life, he would never expect her to understand his position on certain matters. “It seems to me you cannot handle your agents having disagreements with one another.”

“You’re not my agent, you are my god damn assistant. Whatever bad crap you do comes back to bite me and people look at me with a bad impression because of you. I’m worried about you because you’re drinking and harassing my agents—“ she gets cut off by him talking over her.

“You’re suddenly worried about the drinking habit that I’ve been doing since I moved out? It’s been years, Jules. Stop pretending you care. If you cared you wouldn’t be talking about the supposed impact my drinking has on you. You’d be quick to try to help me. Instead, you’re about to lecture me over whatever it is I did wrong this time.”

Midas noticed he had hit a nerve in Jules because she takes a shaky breath, attempting to keep her voice at a controlled volume. “Do you even care about anything anymore? Like, do you even want to be here?” she questions him with caution.

“Not really. I don’t want to be your assistant, secretary, or whatever it is that you call it. If this were my organization, I’d have taken over half of the world by now. Meanwhile, your little organization owns factions and the majority of areas in this godforsaken island. You’re still missing the majority of weapon bases, additional agencies, and any critical hideouts your agents could benefit from…” he stops for a moment to sit up and open his nightstand drawer to get his carton of cigarettes out, pulling one stick out of the carton. He reaches into his pocket to pull out his golden lighter and lights it. He takes in a long drag before sighing, “Your revenue is also limited. Yes, you have decent contacts, but you need more than just decent contacts. You need businesses to support every little fundamental thing you do. Then you need to take into consideration any contracts you are offered. Sure, you’re going to go for the big stuff, the big money type contracts which is fine and dandy if you do, but you’ll need access to bigger weapon warehouses and you’ll need more employees. That’s the point of expanding your contracts AND contacts. These cute little posters you have taped to every wall on this island wanting people to join you, not a bad idea. But I know it costs you money to train every person that applies and you put a lot on the line for failures as well.”

Jules opens her mouth to speak, only to close it. She stood there in shock.

Midas simply shrugs, taking another drag of his cigarette. “I’m a born businessman. Are you surprised that I said your agency could be better?”

She frowns. “I didn’t ask for your opinion. I think The Authority is running smoothly.”

“Then do not take my words so personally, Jules. If you think it is running smoothly then it’s running smoothly. Don’t take my advice if you think its running fine.” He suggests to her, which makes her scoff.

“You’re so full of yourself, you know that? No wonder women find you unbearable.” She says dryly.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” He motions towards his door, “Don’t let the door hit you on your ass on your way out.”

Jules left but not without slamming the golden door behind her, the sound of the door slamming echoing throughout the hall once more. Midas is left to his thoughts.

_I need to reclaim what is mine. She will destroy everything. She has no idea what she is doing._

Thoughts of Yellowjacket rush through his mind.

_This girl is going to kill me. I don’t know what it is about her, but I want to be around her._

_Why do I want to waste my time like this?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAN LET ME TELL YOU THIS WAS A PAIN TO WRITE, I WRITE ON FULL ADHD ENERGY LMAOOO
> 
> I figured Midas would know a few languages. He is a very successful man after all. ;) (My bestie speaks French so it was a big help!!)
> 
> Thanks for the helpful critique and comments, I hope I did well with this chapter. <3


	4. Silver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas likes a woman who doesn't like him for his money.

Yellow wakes up to the sun rising steadily over the horizon. Her hand is still sore from the day before when she punched Midas in his nose. Did she regret doing it? No, she did not. _He deserved it_ , she reminds herself for the hundredth time at this point. She knows he is her boss’s brother. Even so, he needed to learn not to be an entitled jerk. She will always be thankful of the henchmen who pulled her off of him because had it escalated, his nose wouldn’t be the only bone she broke on that handsome face of his. She could not avoid the guilt she felt for doing it, though. She can be too empathetic sometimes.

Yellow pushes the covers off of her and drags herself out of bed. While doing her morning stretches she looks to her nightstand to see her earpiece flashing red, which meant she is being contacted. She places it in her ear, making it beep.

“Good morning Agent Yellowjacket. As you already know, Monday’s are our meeting days. Please arrive in the meeting room by 7 AM, we do provide free breakfast and coffee. We will go over weekly goals and any changes The Authority has undergone and will be going on, as well as briefing you on any missions you may have. Please do not be late.” She hears Jules cheerfully explain through the earpiece.

“Yes boss, I’ll be there soon,” Yellow confirms with her, making her way to her closet to get ready for the day. After getting ready and making sure she didn’t smell like a dumpster or looked like hot trash, she made her way outside. She lives in Weeping Woods which isn’t too far away from The Authority. She could easily walk to the agency as it only takes 30 minutes to get there, but she prefers to drive. Yellow gets into a yellow beat-up truck and drives off. She comes to a screeching stop in the small parking lot near the industrious border of The Authority. Outside stood two henchmen, assault rifles at the ready. As she gets out of the car she picks up her bag, making sure her machete is securely strapped to it. As she approaches the guards she pulls out her ID card and shows it to one of the henchmen.

“Good morning Agent Yellowjacket. Have a good day.” The henchman greets her as he bows his head, motioning her to go on ahead. Yellow thanks him and flashes him a friendly smile before she makes her way into the agency.

As expected Midas wakes up with a hangover. As he acknowledges the pain killers on his nightstand, he knows the events of last night will not be forgotten anytime soon. His nose is still sore from getting punched by a pretty but crazy woman. The mirror did no justice on his nose, as it looks more swollen now than when Toxin looked at it. He follows his typical morning routine of showering and getting dressed. Ever since he joined A.L.T.E.R. he follows their dress code of all black. Compared to the old clothes he wore when he worked at The Agency, the clothes he wears now makes him think of his counterpart, Shadow Midas. The last he heard from his counterpart was 3 weeks before the device's failure when they had one last battle against one another near The Shark. He remembers the bitter laugh that sent shivers down the golden king’s spine and the man’s last words before Midas threw him off the edge of the cliff and into the ocean.

_“Way to go, you idiot. Now Oro will come after you.”_

_Oro_. That bastard, a piece of him that Midas wishes never existed. The golden king he once was before he had been reincarnated. The walking sack of bones that torments him wherever he goes. When Shadow created Shadow Midas and Ghost made Ghost Midas, his curse had been divided among the two beings. The two clones harness the same amount of power that Midas has. This action threw Oro into a fit of rage that the young man had never seen before.

_Oro stood in front of Midas’ desk as he seethed in anger. The gold radiated from his bones as well as his crown, producing the crisp aura that lit up the dim office._

_“How dare you! I give life to you and a simple goal to accomplish and you turn around and spite me this way?!” the skeleton raged at the young king._

_Midas leaned back in his chair, a look of boredom painted on his face. “You contributed to my life, which I cannot deny. But I am not your child nor am I your pawn, Oro. You should have known this would have been a likely outcome.”_

_Oro slammed his boney hands on the golden desk, making the desk lamp shake and some papers fly off._

_“Let’s get one thing clear young man,” he started as he leaned towards Midas, his bones rattled as if he was some sort of snake. Midas did not flinch, his eye followed the skeleton as he got closer to him. “You are nothing compared to me. You are just the humanity I once had. I know all of the ways I can break you, and by the time I am through with you, you will wish you never crossed me in the first place.”_

“Midas!” the loud voice belonging to his sister shakes him out of his thoughts. He looks at her from the reflection of his mirror.

Jules waves to him, a medium cup of ice coffee in her hand. “I don’t know if you still like ice coffee, but I got you some anyway.”

He raises a brow at her, clearly in shock that she remembers such a small thing about him. “I’m surprised you still remember my favorite coffee.” He says as he turns to approach her, a small smile making its way onto his face.

“How could I forget? You used to bring me my favorite Slurp candy every Saturday when we were younger.” She hands him his cup with a smile.

He chuckles and motions towards his door for them to leave his room. “What's on the agenda today? I see a meeting, is that all?” he questions the small girl as they leave his room and make their way down the hall. The once quiet hallway now starting to fill with sounds of agents leaving their rooms. Most of them were dressed while others were in a hurry to put their clothes on as they rush by.

“Yeah. Monday’s are our big meeting days. You’ll be sitting in with me for this one. That way you have somewhat of an idea how I plan out and execute these meetings.” She responds, greeting some of the agents who would wave to her as they pass by. Midas nods, making a mental note to bring a new notepad for the next meeting.

Whatever good mood Midas has developed from receiving an iced coffee and having a conversation with his sister that didn’t involve arguing is immediately crushed by the most obnoxious voice ever.

“Jules! There you are!” Fusion yells, causing Midas to cringe. Jules shoots the flamed man a smile.

“Good morning Fusion. Sleep well?” she asks, allowing the man to approach her and give her a hug and a spin, which makes her giggle and hold onto him so she wouldn’t fall.

“I think so, yeah.” He flashes her a small smile before setting her down and giving Midas a frown upon seeing him. Midas returns the gesture, causing Fusion to chuckle.

“Nice bruised nose, goldilocks. Did Jules finally put you in your place?” he teases, trying to hold in a laugh.

“No, she didn’t PuT mE iN mY pLaCe. She might put _you_ in your place, though.” He mocks with a glare, Fusion returning the gesture. Jules clears her throat.

“Glare at each other on your own time, okay? We have a meeting in 5 minutes.” She reminds them. Fusion gestures towards the small notepad that Midas holds in his hand with his ice coffee.

“It’s nice to see Midas under us for a change.” He points out, laughing at his unimpressive joke. Midas gives Fusion a look similar to ‘what the fuck?’ while Jules gives him a confused look. A couple of agents in passing laugh at Fusion as the realization hits him, his flamed face turning purple from the growing red.

“That’s—that’s not what I meant! I worded that wrong! I meant it’s nice to see Midas working a normal job where he has to take orders from us! Stop laughing!” he barks at passing agents, who continue to laugh at him.

“I never thought you felt that way about me, Fusion.” Midas teases, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I nEvEr tHoUgHt—shut your golden a-ass up, man!” he stutters, “It’s hard for me to compete with that girl you’ve been chasing around!”

“What girl?” Midas hears his sister ask.

Now it’s his turn to blush, his pale skin doing him no justice in hiding it. “Why don’t you say that a little bit louder Fusion? I don’t think the entire agency heard you.” He asks, gritting his teeth.

“So I am right, you’re blushing—“ Fusion is cut off by his mouth being covered by Midas’ golden hand. He struggles against Midas’ hold but he does not let up. Midas feels something wet on his hand before he shoves Fusion away from him.

“Oi, you nasty bitch—“ he snaps at the blue male.

“I can hear the wedding bells for you two.” Jules teases as she gets ready to head into the meeting room. Midas catches up to her, grabbing her arm. Jules looks up at him with confusion before he wipes the hand Fusion licked on the side of her face.

“Here’s your boyfriend's germs!” Midas laughs as he moves away quickly to go into the meeting room before he hears Jules squeal with disgust.

Midas’ brows raise in surprise when he enters the meeting room for the first time. He did not expect the room to be so big. If he were to compare the meeting room of his old agency with this room, this room had to be four times bigger. In the middle of the room, there is a black table filled with breakfast items and deserts like donuts and cereal packs. Surrounding the table are cushioned rolling chairs, most of which are occupied by the other agents.

Some of the female agents start whispering upon seeing Midas. Some were asking him to sit with them while others would flirt by waving, giggling, or winking at him. He acknowledges them with a nod, not particularly interested in workplace affairs being the professional man that he is. He finds a chair at the other end of the table near where his sister would sit and takes a seat. He pulls out his small notepad and golden pen from his vest pocket, ready for this meeting to start and end already. Time seems to stop when he looks at the doorway and sees Yellow walking in. _Even in the most rushed situations, she seems to look good,_ he thinks to himself. He scolds himself mentally.

 _So much for trying to remain professional,_ his brain taunts him.

Yellowjacket walks through the door quickly, approaching the table to get the last packet of cereal. A bulky male in a rusted helmet with spikes, no shirt, and a lot of tattoos follows after her. “Yellow!” the man yells, starting to laugh, “Don’t you dare take that cereal from me woman! You know that’s my favorite!”

Yellow snatches up the Fruit Loops packet and attempts to make a run for it. “No X! It’s mine! Fade, help!” she yells as X catches up to her and picks her up. She throws it to Fade who is sitting next to Siona. The purple-haired man catches the cereal before he betrays her by tossing it to X Lord who catches it with his free hand as he has his other arm wrapped around Yellows waist. She yells in defeat, pounding on X Lords' chest. “You big meanie! I’m hungry too!” she whines as she tries to reach for the packet of cereal while he laughs and holds it away from her.

“Girl, you had an apple on the way here. Besides, there are donuts right there!” he points out the donut box near Midas. Yellow notices Midas first before the box and she scoffs.

“Suddenly I’m not hungry.” She says, crossing her arms and looking away from the golden man.

“I meant the donuts, not your boyfriend,” X says nonchalantly.

Yellow's face turns scarlet and Midas leans back in his seat. “You’re not hungry? I mean… if you were the donuts I’d eat you, no questions asked.”

X busts out laughing as Yellow becomes very flustered. Yellow grabs his cereal packet and throws it at Midas, making X yell. “MY CEREAL!!!” The cereal packet hits Midas on his forehead before landing in his lap. Midas raises a brow at her while Yellow can feel the many hateful glares of the peers around her.

“That’s all you got?” he asks, his voice calm. It’s not that he didn’t care that she attacked him with a cereal packet, it’s just he expected another punch from her.

Yellow opens her mouth only to hear a rough clearing of someone’s throat. “We would like to start the meeting, if you could _please_ take a seat, Yellowjacket,” Fusion speaks up as he passes by Midas. Midas smirks at the now embarrassed Yellowjacket, who looks around for a seat. Upon realizing the only empty seat is next to Midas, she drags her feet and flops down onto it, turning her back to Midas and proceeding to pay attention to Jules. X sits down next to a suited-up man with a white mask that has a red diamond painted on one side and reaches for one of the leftover donuts with a pout. As he reaches for the donut, he touches something warm. When he looks he sees a black-gloved hand reaching for the same donut as well. The hand belongs to the masked man sitting beside him, and he is near certain they are making eye contact with one another.

Midas slides a note to Yellow as his sister gets up to go to the whiteboard to write down mission plans. He taps her shoulder and moves his hand away quickly when she turns around. She sees the note and picks it up, opening it.

_You’re very professional. It’s cute. You wouldn’t last a second if this was my agency._

Yellow looks up from the note with a glare, before snatching his golden pen from his hand and scribbling something down on the same note. She slides it back to him and drops the pen on the table, keeping the glare on him.

_Good thing this isn’t your agency and even if it was I wouldn’t want to join your stupid movement anyway._

A playful smirk made its way onto his face as he writes his response and slides the note back, which made Yellow even madder.

_What if I wanted you to join?_

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. She takes a moment to write back. Midas notices her face go red again as she slides the note to him.

_You don’t want me to join, though. You just want me to tell you whatever it is you want to hear for some sort of validation, you egotistical prick._

Midas snorts which he covers with a cough quickly, gaining a few looks from agents sitting near him. Yellow has to bite her lip to hide the small smile that stems from his reaction. He slides the note back to her, handing her his gold pen with a smirk. They are being sneaky with this note and Yellow is pleasantly surprised that he can keep up with her in sneaking.

_Darling, if I didn’t think you would fit in with my agency, I wouldn’t be asking you to join. I see you have a lot of potential in you and you don’t seem to be afraid of me._

She snorts quietly and scribbles back quickly before sliding it to him. He mocks offense when he reads it.

_You don’t even have an agency, you’re all talk._

He pulls out another piece of paper from his notepad and scribbles something before dropping it in her lap. She looks at him curiously before opening it.

_Fair enough. Are you going to apologize for hitting me?_

She scoffs and shakes her head at him, giving him a ‘are you serious?’ look. She begins to scribble something when Fusion speaks up.

“Excuse me, but Jules is speaking and you dare to pass notes?” his voice booms through the room, making Yellow jump in her seat and immediately hide the note. Midas leans back in his chair, a look of amusement on his face as Fusion storms over to X Lord and the masked man. Jules is talking to those who are still listening to all of the changes The Authority will go through soon as Fusion snatches the note out of a startled X Lords' hands. He clears his throat.

“Wow, your name is Wildcard? You should totally take off that mask, I bet you’re wild under there. ;)” he reads aloud, putting his hands on his hips as he stares at the two men. The other agents start laughing. Yellow covers her mouth when she giggles. Midas looks her over, admiring her beauty in her moment of giddiness. Fusion crumples the note up as X Lord stammers, trying to find any word he could use to speak. “You two should be ashamed of yourselves.” Fusion scolds them.

Wildcard speaks up. “Would you prefer us to talk out loud? Share our intimate details that you wish you could have with our boss?” he asks, his voice smooth but deep. One could assume he is smirking under his mask.

Fusions flames turn purple as a result of the scarlet that grew on him as everyone busts out laughing at him. Jules whistles through her fingers to get everyone to be quiet. “That’s enough of that! I want to get through this meeting as much as the next guy, so shut up and let me pass out your missions!” she shouts as she picks up the stack of small white index cards. “Some of these missions are easy and you’ll probably look at me as if I lost my mind, but just... do your mission. Even if it’s a stupid one such as trash duty at Sweaty Sands, we want to make a good impression on this island. We are still disliked because of GHOST…” she glances at Midas before she looks to everyone else in the room. “So it would be in your best interest and mine to make good impressions. Once you have your mission, you are dismissed. Good luck, agents.”

She starts to pass out the index cards and quiet chatter travels throughout the room. Yellow receives her index card and reads it while Midas watches her. “At noon there will be a cargo shipment of weapons at the main dock of The Fortilla, be careful as the new EGO hideout is there. I hope you’re good with sniper rifles because you will need one. The dock will be guarded by EGO henchmen. Be fast, collect the weapons, and return by sunset.” She reads aloud, starting to giggle and bounce in her seat in excitement. Midas raises his brows.

 _She’s still fairly new and she gets a mission like this? Interesting…_ he thinks to himself, giving her a small smile. “Excited for some action I see.” He points out, only to hear her squeal.

“It’s a big deal because that means the boss knows what I’m capable of! Plus it says here I’ll be taking a couple of henchmen with me!” she shows him the index card. He gives her a small nod.

“You must have quite the kill record if she’s giving you that sort of mission.”

Yellow hums. “That’s classified.” She answers, biting her lip. Midas tries to keep a straight face when she says that, only for him to smile big and laugh.

“You can tell me. I can always pull your record anyway.” He says.

She stands up and moves close enough to him where she can whisper in his ear. “Then pull my records, pretty boy. I have nothing to hide, I just don’t owe you an answer.” Her voice made him shudder and she messes with his hair before walking away. He watches her leave, his eye taking in every bit of her backside. Impressed with what he sees, he bites his lip before he gets out of his chair to head back to his office for another boring workday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I said this was going to be a slowburn, but I roleplay for a living and that's clearly out of the question and I don't have the patience. I also love how toxic Yellow and Midas are to one another, one day he gets hit and the next they're flirting with notes. I ship it 100%. Fusion is also a big Jules simp.
> 
> Major credit to my best friend Etno for proof reading most of my writing and helping me become a better writer! I love you all!


	5. Cobalt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas does something sweet for Yellow, but of course, nothing ever goes your way.

With all agents away on missions, The Authority has a calm silence that reminds Midas of his days in The Agency. He appreciates this kind of silence, as he can get his work done. He sits at his desk, cigarette in one hand, and agent files strewn all over his desk. Most of the files were Yellowjacket and her training records, history, and life before The Authority. The other files were of Team Toxic, a team that Yellowjacket had been a part of before her time in The Authority. Midas lost track of time from reading the records that he did not hear Jules knock on the door and come in.

“Woah, what's with all the files?” her question pulls him from reading and he looks up to see her holding a bag of food from Durr Burger.

“Oh, nothing. I’m just trying to figure out why you would send Yellowjacket on a cargo interception mission when shes fairly new.” He responds, motioning to the greasy food in the bag. “That for me?” She sets the bag down on his desk with a confirming nod.

“To answer your question Midas, Yellowjacket is a… unique case. I don’t know if you remember the group called Team Toxic?” she asks.

He nods, reaching for the food bag with his free hand. His stomach growls, confirming that he is indeed hungry. “I don’t remember but I did pull a file on the subject.” He answers her as he pulls a couple of fries from the bag, munching down on the potatoes.

“Well I didn’t know this until Fusion told me, but Team Toxic was playing both sides of Shadow and Ghost before the flood. They are mercenaries who would pick up odd jobs on both sides. Jobs such as intercepting weapon deliveries, bounty hunting, spy missions, and storm riding.” Jules explains as she flops down on one of the less comfy chairs Midas has in his office. “They are back up agents but without an official affiliation with either group.”

The mention of Team Toxic working for both sides makes Midas stop chewing on his food and instead leans forward in his chair to hear more.

“Yellowjacket is from Team Toxic. If I recall correctly, she had been a high ranking member. So no, she’s not ‘new’ to the mission scene, Midas. I wouldn’t send her on anything that dangerous if I thought she wasn’t capable of executing it.” Jules comments, snatching a fry from Midas’ food bag.

Midas nods, closing the file and sighing. “Sorry—I don’t mean to doubt your decision-making skills.” He apologizes, sincerity in his voice.

“Well, you shouldn’t doubt me, to begin with. I’m not the one who got punched square in the nose by a girl.” She points out, snorting at him.

“Why does it matter if she’s a girl? You really shouldn’t belittle your gender, Jules.” He questions her, leaning back into his seat and looking at her for an answer.

“Oi, “ she raises her voice, “You’re one to talk! Do not preach to me, you can’t treat a girl right!” she snaps back at him, pouting and taking his food bag off his desk.

“You better give me my fries back. I won’t hesitate to turn you into gold over a fry.” He warns her.

They both start laughing. Midas smiles and after a few moments, Jules sighs. “Remember when we were younger and I used to tell on you for the silliest things?” she asks him, a small frown on her face forming. “I miss mum. I wonder if she’d be proud of me.”

The small smile on Midas’ face goes away and he looks down at the files. “Yeah. Of course she would be proud of you, darling.” He answers, trying not to sound bitter. Just hearing about their parents makes his chest ache with anger and resentment. He tunes her out as she continues to talk, his stare focusing on the files.

The snapping of fingers and the wave of a hand pull him out of his trance. Jules frowns at him, a look of concern on her face. “Hey? Are you okay? I’m sorry if me bringing her up made you sad—“ he cuts her off abruptly, a fake smile on his face.

“No, I um, am really busy right now. Backed up on paperwork and I got too caught up in these files. I need to work, Jules. You’re fine.” He reassures her.

She raises a questioning brow at him. “Soooooo you are backed up on paperwork and thought it would be a good idea to pull files on Yellowjacket? Why are you so interested in her? I know it can’t possibly be about Team Toxic either.” She asks him, a smirk starting to grow on her face.

“I’m not interested in her. I was just curious, that’s all.” He replies, still not looking at her.

“Right. You want me to believe that you two didn’t pass notes at the meeting this morning, a day after she punched you in the face for being a dick?” she presses him.

His eyes widen at the mention of the notes they passed around. He clears his throat and reaches for another French fry. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He defends himself.

“Oh come on, Midas! Just say you fancy the girl. She is really pretty, I’ll admit. Definitely would be your type if you know… weren’t a dick.” she tries to crack a joke, despite the sudden glare he gives her.

“Get out.” He says, his voice monotone.

Jules frowns, “Hey, I was kidding. You know that I crack jokes like that with you—“

“Get. Out.” His voice is louder this time.

Jules rolls her eyes as she gets out of the chair and heads towards the door. “Oi fine, I’ll leave. But I’m right. You should work on your attitude just a little bit. Constructive criticism isn’t a personal attack on you, Midas.” She makes sure to slam the door as she leaves.

Midas rubs his face as he sighs. The peaceful silence returns to his office and he takes a moment to light another cigarette. He shakes his head and snorts to himself. “Pff, I didn’t know me pulling a record on an agent meant I fancied them.” He talks to himself.

His thoughts drift to Yellowjacket, and how she made such a daring move to get close to him this morning. The way she whispered to him and how her voice alone made him shiver. Her smell… the scent of vanilla mixed with a flower he couldn’t name off the top of his head. It didn’t overwhelm his senses but comforted him in a way he couldn’t put into words. He shakes his head, scolding himself for having such thoughts about another employee. He pushes the files aside and moves to the stack of mission paperwork that has been piling up on his desk for the last couple of days.

Yellowjacket and her chosen henchmen make their way to The Fortilla by boat. The journey took about an hour, and in that hour Yellow sat down with her team and devised a plan on how to intercept the cargo shipment.

Arriving on the shore of the small island, the team divides into 5 groups of two. Yellow partners up with one henchman that has green hair, which she learns her name is Envoy. Yellow learns that Envoy used to work for Midas before the big flood and soon after switched to work for The Authority. Envoy’s story catches Yellow's attention.

“You used to work for that guy? How was he as a boss?” she asks the green-haired woman who is walking a few feet ahead of her, her assault rifle in hand.

“He was a great boss. A little closed off towards us when it came to subjects not work-related, but he cared for all of us and paid all of us well.” Envoy responds, making sure to stop every couple of feet to keep an eye out for any guards.

“I’m surprised. He seems like a douche.” Yellow says bitterly, rolling her eyes as she keeps up.

“Why do you think that, if you don’t mind me asking?” Envoy questions her.

“He always stares at me and he makes inappropriate comments towards me. I also don’t know if you know this already, but I was the one who broke his nose because he grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.” She answers with a sigh.

Envoy raises a brow at her. “Really? So you’re the one who punched him? Pretty ballsy if you ask me. He normally turns people to gold if they cross him.”

Yellow rolls her eyes. “I’m not afraid of him.”

“You’re the first to say that.” She points out.

Yellow starts to walk faster, going ahead of her green-haired ally. They finally reach the docks and that’s when Yellow stops Envoy from proceeding further. She puts a finger to her lips to hush her and points ahead. On the dock stood four henchmen in white clothes, clearly the enemy. The cargo ship is heading towards the dock and the white henchmen stand waiting, guns at the ready. Yellow points to the first two men on the left as Envoy's targets and the men on the right as her own. Once they agree to that idea, Yellow counts down from 3 with her fingers. As soon as she is down to one finger, that’s when the women spring into action. The gunfire coming from their guns is followed by more distant gunshots from what she assumes is her teammates.

A gunshot rings out and Yellow's first instinct is to duck as the bullet misses her by mere inches. She immediately fires her pistol in the direction where the shot came from. There is a scream and a loud thud as if something hit the ground.

The two women stand amongst the dead henchmen, panting and trying to gather their bearings. The fight had been a bloody one, EGO sending waves of back up against them that they managed to barely get through. Some of Yellows henchmen sustained minor injuries, nothing compared to what the EGO henchmen received. The team starts to come together and Envoy, despite still trying to gain her breath, points towards the cargo box. “Guild, start loading the weapons onto the boat with Seeker. Two choppas will be here shortly to assist with the rest of the transport. We need to move quickly, it’s only a matter of time before Ocean arrives with more reinforcements and that woman is not someone you want to trifle with.” Envoy orders the two tattooed men who grunt and rush by to get to the weapons.

They load whatever weapons they can onto the boat, securing the boxes so the cargo doesn’t fall out during the trip. They hear the rumble of a helicopter and Yellow recognizes The Authority’s choppas approaching them. She presses her earpiece and Jules answers moments after.

“Boss, we retrieved the weapons. We’ll be heading back now, we see the choppas approaching.” Yellow advises Jules.

“Good work, Yellowjacket. We’ll see you back at the base. You and I will go through the cargo once you’re here.” She tells Yellow before the line goes dead.

Envoy places a hand on the girl's shoulder, a goofy smile on her face. “We did good, partner.” She tells her.

Yellow smiles and pats her hand. “Yes, we did. I hope I get more missions with you.”

When the team arrives at the base, Jules is waiting for them at the dock with Fusion, who has his arms crossed and a hard look on his face. “Welcome back agents!” Jules greets them as the team gets out of the boat and starts to unload it. Jules comes over to help them, making the process faster. A lot of the cargo boxes have faded EGO logos on it which Yellow notices and takes some time to look at.

“These weapons used to belong to GHOST. Since the majority of agents from that agency are here now, I figured we’d take back what belongs to them. EGO has been expecting most of these weapons for a while now as some of them are legendary, even mythic. However, I doubt we would find Midas’ drum gun in here though, unless if EGO has it vaulted.” Jules explains as she approaches Yellow.

Yellow nods and sets the boxes down. “Interesting. I’ve heard of his gun but never seen it. Must be a big deal I imagine.”

“The strongest gun in all of the island, yes. A weapon of mass destruction. I can imagine why EGO would vault it if that’s the case, but I do not trust my brother’s gun in the hands of the enemy.” Jules replies.

“It should stay there, Jules.” Fusion butts in, his voice firm, and he gives her a look.

Jules sighs. “That’s your opinion.” She counters him.

“ _You_ think it’s an opinion, but for the safety of all of us, you _know_ it needs to stay there.”

Yellow tilts her head in confusion. “For the safety of all of us? You think the second he gets his gun he’d kill all of us?”

“Listen, Agent Jacket—“

“It’s _Yellowjacket_.”

“Whatever. You’re still fairly new so I’m going to say this as nicely as possible. Midas is a dangerous man. He’s powerful because he feeds off the fear of other people, but Jules seems to think he’s the best thing in the world.” Fusion speaks bitterly, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t think he’s the best thing in the world? He’s my brother and I think I know him better than everyone in this agency.” Jules counters back, “If that bothers you Fusion, then we can speak in my office. Otherwise, help open these boxes and shut up.” Her tone firm towards the end, turning her back to the flamed man and continuing to help Yellowjacket.

Yellowjacket raises her brows at Fusion when he looks to her as if to tell him that he’s on his own on that one.

The group gets all of the boat cargo open by the time the choppas arrive with more boxes. Jules calls for more henchmen to assist. Yellow takes this time to go fill out mission paperwork in the break room.

She is relieved when she sees that the break room is empty. Yellow takes advantage of this and takes a seat by the window, taking note of the sun that is nearing the horizon. She gets to work on her mission paperwork, her focus set on completing the task before the moon rises so she can go home. She does not hear the break room door open, nor does she hear a particular golden man approach her.

Midas has his hands full of paperwork when he approaches her. “Fancy seeing you here this late, Agent.” The smooth British accent makes Yellow jump in her seat, shooting a glare at the laughing Midas’ way.

“Holy shit—don’t scare me like that!” she scolds him. “It’s weird to see you out of your office anyway.”

“Is it?” he asks as he sets down the paperwork and takes a nearby chair from another table and pulls it over to her table. Yellow watches him with confusion. “I just came out of the engineering wing. I ran out of coffee.”

“I didn’t say you can sit here—“ she stops, interrupted.

“It’s a free country. You’re more than welcome to sit somewhere else, darling. Unless…” he smirks, “You want me to stay but you won’t admit it.” his voice is teasing, making Yellow shiver. She glares at him again. She doesn’t move from her spot and Midas’ smirk grows bigger. “What are you working on, doll? Mission work? How was the mission by the way?” he asks her, casually scooting his chair closer to her so he can see what she’s writing.

Yellow sighs. Knowing she will not win this battle, she pushes the papers towards him so he can look. He scans over the paperwork. “Wait—this was a mission to retrieve old GHOST weapons? She didn’t tell you this until now?” he questions her.

“No. I found out as I was unloading the boat. She said something about EGO expecting shipments of weapons. We don’t know who shipped these weapons to them.” She answers him.

He nods his head as he continues to read the file. Yellow looks around the room and her eyes land on a shiny gold object resting near Midas’ other paperwork. The sun is shining on it in a way that makes the object look like it is glowing. “What’s that?” she points to it. Midas looks up from reading and when he realizes what she is talking about, he picks it up. The object is a yellow rose, long and thorny. The soft perfume scent reaches her and captivates her senses.

“Oh? I see you’ve noticed my gift.” He chuckles, flashing her a cocky grin. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about you after you punched me in my nose. I found that rose during my lunch break and I think you should have it. It compliments your brash personality, doll.”

He leans forward, getting into Yellow's bubble before he lowers his voice and says, “Since every rose has its thorns.” Yellow is at a loss for words. She looks between him and the rose, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times as if she came up with something witty to say, only to retract it instead. Seeing her face turn scarlet makes the grin on the golden man’s face grows as if it could engulf his entire face if it grows any bigger. Eventually, she shakes her head and blinks a few times before she utters the words, “Un. Fucking. Believable.”

He places the rose on top of her mission work. “Did I take your breath away?” he asks casually, his golden eye stares into her big brown eyes, making her growl and look away.

“You’re taking my patience away.” She replies bitterly.

“What a shame. Yet you are blushing.” He hums, his eye giving her a look over.

Yellow tries to scoot her chair away, completely forgetting she’s sitting by the window, so her chair hits the wall with a bang. She lets out a defeated whine. “You’re bothering meeeeee!” she complains. “I’m trying to get my work done and you’re bothering me! Did you come here to insult and smoothly compliment me with a rose?!”

“Yes? Goodness darling, if I can bother you that easily though—“

She slams the table with her hands. “YOU’RE ANNOYING!” she shouts at him. “You were a boss right?” she asks, her voice still loud.

Midas nods slowly, his eye wide from her screaming at him. He bites his lip as if he’s trying not to smile.

“I don’t know how you were as a boss other than what other people have told me, but if you were this annoying then too—then it’s no surprise you’re where you are now! It’s a shame you’re cute as hell because your personality is so _unbearable_!” Yellow emphasizes the last part with a lower voice.

She packs up everything excluding the rose, not making any eye contact with him. She picks up the rose and slams it in front of him on the table. “I don’t want your stupid flower. I don’t even want to talk to you. Leave me alone.” She barks at him as she kicks her chair into the table and leaves the break room. Midas rolls his eye when the door slams shut.

_What does she know anyway? I’m not annoying. She just doesn’t know how to take a joke._

He picks up the rose and snorts bitterly. “Ungrateful. I do something nice for someone and this is the reaction I get?” he asks himself out loud, not caring if anyone comes into the break room at this point. As he looks over the rose, his hand begins to shake and his breathing comes out rough. This overwhelming sense of anger causes him to clench the stem despite the thorns and close his eyes, trying to even out his breathing. After many moments of doing so, he opens his eyes and looks down at his hand. The once yellow rose is now hard gold, shining in the break room light. His hand is bloody from the stem piercing his flesh but at that moment, it didn’t matter. He throws the rose across the room, not caring where it landed, and gathers his paperwork. The gold on his hands rapidly creeping up his arms. He needed to go somewhere, anywhere that is away from here. His office. His safe space where no one could bother him by being stupid.

_I wasted my fucking time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL ABOARD THE ANGST TRAIN CHOO CHOO
> 
> For real though, they'll get a lot worse before they get better. Thanks for the support everyone and thanks to Etno for taking time out of their life to proofread my shitty writing.


	6. Bismuth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellowjacket gets pulled into Chics insecurity drama, resulting in Midas coming to her rescue, much to her distaste.  
> (TW: self harm by intrusive thoughts, you have been warned)

On his way back to his office, Midas runs into a henchman who is leaving. The henchman nods their head, bidding him a good night before they walk by him. Midas grunts in reply before he steps into his office. He shuts the door calmly and turns on all the lights. As the light brightens the office, he sees items on his desk that weren’t there before. He approaches his desk and his eyes widen in surprise at what he sees. On the desk sat two revolvers and a leather holster, similar to the holster he wore during his time in GHOST. Next to the items is a small note with his name on it. Picking up the note and opening it, he reads it.

_Midas,_

_I couldn’t find your drum gun or your pistols in the cargo shipments from today’s interception mission, but I hope these revolvers are good enough for you. Fusion did not want you to have any weapons because of his growing trust issues with people, so please don’t tell him I gave these to you. I’ve arranged for a henchman to deliver the gifts to your office before their shift ends. I know you’ll turn these to gold like you did with your pistols and I was lucky enough to find a holster similar to the one you had during your time in GHOST. I’m currently working on trying to get you involved with agency missions as you know the island and can provide insight to struggling agents. Just know I appreciate you and the work you’ve provided to us so far._

_Jules._

For the first time tonight, Midas feels a small smile creep upon his face. He sets the note aside and picks up both revolvers in his hands, inspecting each weapon. The weapons are in acceptable condition, looking as though they had been polished before he received them. This is an upgrade from the pistols he had been issued to keep when he worked for GHOST. His golden hands wrap the weapons in gold, the soft glow of the metal engulfs each gun. He gives a smug smirk when he sees his reflection in both gun grips.

 _Do you really trust me with such things, Jules?_ He asks himself in his head.

He sets his new guns down and inspects the holster she gave him. It is very similar to the one he used to wear. After a while of inspecting the holster, he puts it down on the desk and gathers up his paperwork so he can give it to Jules.

He stops in front of her office and is about to open the door when he hears what sounds like a muffled argument coming from behind the door.

“How dare you! Do you think I’m stupid, Julia?! Do you think I wouldn’t find out that you gave that psychopath you call a brother a fucking weapon?!”

Midas quickly determines the yelling belongs to Fusion.

“I didn’t want to tell you because you react so dramatically to everything, Fusion! What am I supposed to do?! Just let him wander the agency without any form of protection? What if someone attacks us?! He would be a casualty!” Jules argues back, slamming her hands on her desk. “And I told you not to fucking call me Julia!”

Midas knocks on the door and enters without waiting to be told to come in. He smiles at both of them and holds up the paperwork. “Just your local psychopath dropping off paperwork from today.” He announces as he passes by Fusion, who is seething at this point.

“Now you’re listening to our conversation? Nice, you’re a snake, Midas.” Fusion spits.

“Hard for me not to hear what you are saying when you’re shouting. Don’t you dare raise your voice at my sister.” Midas warns the flamed man, turning around from the desk to look at him.

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it Goldilocks?” Fusion challenges him, a wicked smile spreads across his face as he gets closer.

Jules rushes out from behind her desk and moves to stand between them. “Enough you two! We’re not going to fight!”

Midas rolls his eye. “Is it considered a fight if I separate the little bitch, dear?” he asks her genuinely.

“Yes, now both of you stop! Midas, just go to bed. You look like you haven’t slept in days. Please. I don’t need any more stress on my plate.” She pleads with her older brother, her eyes glossing with tears.

The tears were enough to soften the golden man. He sighs. “Fine. I suppose you can handle this clown on your own, then.” He pats her head and gives Fusion one last warning glare.

As soon as Midas leaves, Fusion crosses his arms and shoots Jules a glare. “See how his first option is violence?” he snaps at her.

“Can you blame him? You’re shouting at me for no reason. Other than the fact you don’t like a decision that I made. I am the boss and I can decide whatever I want. You never support me in anything, Fusion! How can you be so fond of me when you can’t stand by any choice I make?” she asks as she squeezes her eyes shut for a moment to fight back tears.

“I’m looking out for you, Jules. Why can’t you see that? Ever since you’ve claimed the entire island, the target on your back is a lot bigger. What if you get hurt? What if something happens between you and Midas? I can’t bear to lose you… I don’t know what I’d do if I did…” Fusion trails off, biting his lip as if unsure he wants to complete his statement. He moves away from her to sit down in one of the chairs facing her desk. “Midas played both GHOST and SHADOW, to the point where everything’s collapsed. He’s manipulative and deceptive. I don’t want you to be hurt.”

“I know my brother, Fusion. I know what he is capable of. You know that if he tries anything we can take him down.” Jules makes an attempt to reassure him, even going as far as to move over to him to cup his face. Fusion relaxes into her touch and Jules gives him a small smile. “Can you trust me just this once, love?” she asks, her thumb tracing circles on his flamed cheek as she looks into his eyes.

Fusion sighs and looks away, but Jules always knows how to win him over with her version of puppy eyes. “I suppose…” he looks back to her, meeting her bright green eyes. He rests his hands on her waist and pulls her closer to him as if to hug her. “It’s difficult to say no to you,” he says, making Jules giggle and press a kiss to his forehead. Fusion feels his face heat up, making his blue flames turn a light shade of purple.

“Thank you.” She whispers before she pulls away from him. Fusion grabs her hand when she does so, causing her to turn and look at him. He presses her hand to his lips, making Jules blush. “Charmer.” She hums.

Midas finds himself lying in bed, looking up at the golden ceiling. He considers himself an insomniac for many reasons, one of which is he only slept for four hours at a time and only a couple times a week. When he isn’t plagued by nightmares of Oro, the whispers of the night reach him instead. Whispers of every person he has killed for getting in his way, whispers of ghosts that associate themselves with Oro and hold a vendetta against him for his greed, and the whispers from his mind.

_Ever wonder what it would be like to be blind? Go on, take a knife and gouge your eye out. You won’t have to see Oro anymore!_

_This isn’t your life to live._

_Long live the golden king!_

Midas growls and tries to cover his ears with his pillow. The whispering stops and his mind drifts to Yellowjacket. That woman, the one who has little regard for him.

 _Why can’t I stop thinking of her? It’s not like I can have her anyway, this isn’t my life to live and she’s made it abundantly clear she wants nothing to do with me!_ He exclaims mentally, as the thoughts of her become more persistent.

_She would make a pretty statue! Just turn her gold and you can keep her forever!_

“I don’t want to turn her into a statue.” He says out loud.

_Are you really worried about a tramp like her? Just fuck her and be about your day._

“She’s not a tramp.” He argues.

_Oro will be mad if he finds out you are focused on a mere girl than your destiny._

“Oro is mad at me no matter what I do.” He points out.

_What if she finds out what a freak you are? What if she finds out what you once were?!_

Midas doesn’t argue with the last point. He feels a pang of guilt in his gut.

_She will never want someone like you._

_Just like your parents. Even before you became a freak they hated your guts. You can’t make anybody proud as Jules can. Without all this gold you’re just another failure._

Midas doesn’t realize he is crying until he feels a wet spot on his pillow. He covers his mouth as a sob escapes from his lips.

_Imagine how weak you’d look if someone walked in right now and saw you crying like this. Pathetic._

_Maybe Oro should turn you to gold. All you do is hurt everyone around you. That way, your legacy can live on in a miserable statue._

The feeling of numbness takes over in a flash and Midas finds himself looking up at the ceiling again. He does this several times until the sun rises over the horizon to welcome the new day.

Yellowjacket arrives at The Authority by sunrise, ready to take on the day. She makes her way to the break room to get a small snack, stopping at the door when she witnesses X Lord beating on the vending machine and shouting. Wildcard is sitting at the table near the machine, having a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.

“This fucking machine won’t give me my crisps!” he yells at Wildcard, who looks up from his newspaper with a sigh.

“Maybe you didn’t put the right amount of money in?” he asks him.

Yellow approaches her friend and looks at the money amount screen on the machine. “Dude, you’re missing 50 cents.” She points out.

X Lord stammers in embarrassment for a moment. “Oh—uh—thanks Yellow.” He says as Yellow shakes her head with a laugh.

He puts fifty cents into the machine and moments later his favorite crisps land in the bin. He takes them and immediately rips open the bag to eat them, making Wildcard laugh at his childish antics.

Yellow gets herself a small pastry from the vending machine and sits down at a table by herself. She drowns out whatever X Lord is talking about and eats her pastry. She looks around the room and her eyes immediately land on something shining near the door that leads to the courtyard. She finishes the pastry and makes her way to the trash that’s next to the door to throw her trash away, allowing her to investigate the shining object. Once she reaches the trash can, she takes a step back in surprise. The shining object is none other than the rose Midas tried to give her the day before, except instead of its bright yellow color, it’s covered in gold. She assumes he threw it, as the small space surrounding the rose is covered in gold. A small knot of guilt forms in Yellow's stomach as she sighs.

“Damnit Midas…” she curses quietly, bending down to pick up the rose. She inspects the rose some more, not hearing X Lord approach her.

“Whatcha got there, Yellow?” he asks, making her jump and putting her hand behind her back when she turns to face him.

“What do you mean?” she answers him, swallowing her nerves.

“Well normal people don’t hang around a trash can or investigate whatever’s around it. So whatcha got there?” he asks again, motioning to the hand that’s behind her back.

She sighs and moves her hand, showing X Lord the rose. “Midas… gave me a rose yesterday after making me mad. I think he was trying to be charming but I got mad and told him I didn’t want his stupid rose. I think he threw it because it’s in gold and the small space it was laying in is gold.” She replies.

X Lord raises a brow at her. “So he got mad because you said no? That’s not a red flag at all.” He says with sarcasm.

“I feel bad, though.” She points out.

“You should be careful with him. He doesn’t seem stable. If he can’t take no for an answer, fuck knows what he’ll do to you. I’m just looking out for you, kid.” He tells her as he messes her hair up with his gloved hand.

Yellow laughs and swats his hand away. “Yeah yeah, still though. I’m going to go train for a bit. You and your boy toy can join me if you want.” She replies.

“Maybe later, we’re still waking up. He’s not my boy toy, by the way, he’s a friend right now. He’s pretty cute though! Should see what he looks like under his mask!” he gushes.

Yellow giggles and gives him a small smile. If X Lord didn’t wear a helmet, Yellow would’ve sworn he was blushing and grinning like the goof that he is.

She is at the door to leave the break room when she runs into none other than Midas. “Oh—sorry—“ she apologizes, becoming flustered.

They make eye contact with one another before Midas sees her holding the gold rose. He scoffs and Yellow frowns at him. “Well good morning to you too.” She greets him with a mocking scoff.

She doesn’t get a reply. Instead, Midas passes by her, heading towards the coffee maker. The guilt Yellow is already feeling only grows more at him ignoring her like this. X Lord watches with confusion, even going so far as to nudge Wildcard, who looks up from his newspaper for the umpteenth time today.

“They’re not even eye-fucking each other!” he points out, trying to keep his voice low. He didn’t succeed though as Midas shoots him a glare from the coffee maker and Wildcard swats him with the newspaper.

“Ow! What was that for?!” the helmet man whines, clutching his arm dramatically.

“Mind your own business, X.” Wildcard scolds him.

Midas hears the break room door slam as he sips his coffee, a small smile creeping onto his tired face.

Yellow spends an hour doing target practice before she goes into the gym for cardio. As always, she leaves her backstabber bag on the bench in the long hallway that leads from the gym to the ballistics room. Making her way towards the gym, she removes her jacket, ready to throw it on her bag when she stops with a frown. The gold rose she left on the bag isn’t there anymore. As she scrambles to look around for it, a disgusting shriek makes her turn around in the direction it came from.

She is greeted by a girl with black pigtails in mostly black clothing with pink suspenders, skirt, and shoes. In her hand is the gold rose, which makes Yellow's eyes widen. The girl pops her gum as she moves her sunglasses, looking Yellow up and down. “So you’re the girlie who has the gold rose! Wooow, Midas’ standards have really lowered if he’s with you, chicky!” her voice is loud and obnoxious, Yellow is already feeling a headache coming on.

“Ummm… he isn’t with me. That rose is mine, you can’t just take someone's stuff without permission.” Yellow says, trying to remain polite.

“I can do whatever I want, rookie. That’s your name, right? You look really new so I’m just going to give you a courtesy warning before I beat ya to a pulp. Whatever you did for Midas to give you this rose doesn’t mean shit, he wouldn’t even think of going after you. Look at the way you dress!” she snorts and motions at Yellow's bodysuit. “You look good with the jacket on honey, not off!”

Yellow blinks a few times at the girl in front of her as if she misheard her. “My name is Yellowjacket and ma’am, this is a workplace—“ is all she can muster.

“Yellowjacket? Ugh, your parents must have not loved you if they named you that.” She cackles like a witch.

“It’s an alias, you dumbfuck.” Yellow counters, annoyance dripping in her voice although she tries to hide it.

“Who do you think you’re fooling, girl? You must think you’re hot shit because he gave you a rose. You’re nothing special, you’re just going to be another body on his bang list. That’s if you make it that far.” Chic laughs, waving the rose at her as if she’s an animal.

Yellow clenches her fists. “I don’t think of myself as anything. I’m just here to work. I don’t care about what you think because I don’t care if he likes me or not. He gave the rose to me out of kindness and you should give it back to me.” Yellow explains to her, while still trying to remain polite.

“I think I’m going to keep it. It’s pretty and you’re not really deserving of it.” Chic hums, “Or you can fight me for it.” She challenges.

“I’m not deserving of it? Who in the fuck do you think you are?” Yellow raises her voice, standing straight as if to be taller than the girl in front of her.

“Aw, is the wittle Yellowjacket angwy because someone has her wose?” Chic mocks with a baby tone, waving the rose in Yellow's face.

Yellow grabs her wrist, twisting it. Chic yelps, dropping the rose before Yellows fist meets her face. Her sunglasses fly off her face as she stumbles backward, Chic landing with her back against the wall. Yellow steps on the girl’s sunglasses, the sound of crushed plastic making Chic scream.

“MY SUNGLASSES! YOU BITCH!” she shouts, running towards Yellow.

Yellow tries to get away but isn’t fast enough as she is tackled to the ground. Chic lands the first punch to her face, getting the girl in her eye. Yellow hisses in pain but shoves Chic off her. Getting up quickly, Yellow lands a kick to the girl's stomach, making Chic groan in pain and clutching her stomach with one arm. Yellow quickly picks up the rose, making her way into the gym.

Chic gets up as she hears Yellow opening the gym door. Yellow makes it halfway through the gym before she trips and falls, twisting her ankle in the process. Clutching her ankle, Chic catches up to her. Yellow notices immediately that Chic has a crazed look on her face. She tries to move away, but Chic screams bloody murder and pulls a knife from behind her back, attempting to slash at Yellow. Yellow rolls away and uses her foot to knock her back. Chic falls backward, landing with an oof. Yellow tries to get up despite the shooting pain from her ankle and sees a group of henchmen and a super livid sibling duo running her way.

She tries to limp towards them, only to let out a shriek when she feels a sharp object plunge into her calf. The realization hits Yellow when she sees Chic with the knife plunged into her leg, a shit-eating grin painting her face.

“I got you bi—“ Chic is cut off by Yellow kicking back, her boot meeting Chics chin and knocking her out.

Yellow ends up falling to her knees as Jules and Midas get close.

“What in the bloody hell happened?!” Jules yells as a few henchmen surround Chic, picking her up and calling for a gurney to be brought down to the gym.

Yellow is breathing hard but looks up at Jules. “She… all I was doing was heading here to do some cardio and I saw that the rose Midas got me wasn’t on my bag. She had been holding it and had been teasing me about it and just being overall rude. She then told me I can fight her to get the rose back after I asked her twice to give it to me. I—I didn’t know she had a knife—“ Yellow blurts out, the pain is unbearable but she focuses on the situation at hand.

Midas looks over Yellow with concern. “She did get you pretty good in the calf, love.” He points out. “I can help you to the infirmary if you’d like.” He offers.

Jules shoots him a funny look, surprised he’d even offer to help somebody this way.

“Can’t the henchmen help me…?” she asks quietly.

“They’re a little preoccupied right now. Here, I’ll carry you to the infirmary because there’s no way in hell I’m going to let you walk with a knife in your leg.” He insists.

Yellow whines but also hisses when another sharp pain shoots up her leg. Midas shakes his head and scoops her up quickly, making sure not to hit the area where the knife is. Yellow squeaks and immediately clutches his shirt.

Toxin is in the middle of reading a book when her medic stations door is kicked open and a hurried Midas comes in with Yellowjacket in his arms. Toxin complains loudly. “What the fuck happened this time!”

“Sorry that you have to do your job Toxin, Yellow here just got stabbed so drop the attitude alright?” Midas snaps at her. 

Toxin glares at him and gives Yellow the look over, her eyes meeting on the knife that’s in her calf. “Alright. Set her down on the gurney, face down. I’m going to have to pull out that knife—“ Yellow yelps at that, her hold on Midas getting tighter.

Toxin steps away to get the proper medical supplies and Midas feels himself becoming more flustered each second he’s holding the girl.

“Come on,” Midas says to Yellow, his voice low but gentle. “I’ll be right here with you.”

Yellow shakes her head quickly.

“Yellow. You can’t live with a knife in your leg for the rest of your life.” He tells her.

“Bet.” She argues, making Midas snort.

“Okay, enough of that. Here.” He sits her down on the gurney, careful with her leg. “You can hold my hand when she pulls the knife. Sounds good?”

Yellow looks at the golden man's hand and then back at him, raising a brow. “I guess…” she answers hesitantly, shuffling so she can lay on her side before slowly moving to lay on her stomach.

Midas pats her head. “There you go, darling.” He praises her.

Toxin returns moments later with the supplies, setting her medic kit down and putting on black latex gloves. “I’ll be forward about this. It’s going to hurt like fuck. If you kick me we’ll have problems.” The green medic warns Yellow, who has her face in the pillow.

Midas hears Yellow say “she won’t” although it’s muffled by said pillow.

Toxin groans in irritation before she can remove the knife, as the henchmen bring in an unconscious Chic in a gurney. “Ma’am, this is the other young lady from the fight.” One henchman speaks up.

“Put Chic on a bed that isn’t near this young lady, please. I don’t want to hear her scream.” Toxin tells them, shaking her head. “I don’t even want to know what happened.”

She approaches Yellow again, raising a brow when she sees Midas holding the girl's hand. Toxin decides against saying anything about it, as she isn’t in the mood to deal with Midas being defensive.

Without warning, Toxin grabs the handle of the knife and pulls it out, causing Yellow to scream and hit the gurney with her free hand. Midas feels her squeeze his hand hard. Once the knife is out of her leg entirely, Yellow moves her head from her pillow, tears staining her rapidly bruising face.

“That really fucking hurt!” she yells at the medic, who shrugs her shoulders.

“But did you die?” Toxin asks her, to which Yellow glares at her instead of answering.

Two chug jars and many stitches later, Yellow is laying on a bed in the infirmary. Toxin told Midas that the wound wasn’t fatal, but that Yellow needs to stay off her leg for a while. Small activities were fine but if there’s any numbness, to stop using her leg.

“It’s weird,” Yellow speaks up finally, noticing that they’re still holding hands but not quite letting his hand go.

“What’s weird?” he asks her.

“I made you upset and you didn’t even acknowledge my existence this morning… and yet you came running when I got hurt.” She points out.

Midas hums, “Well, I did hear through the earpiece that there was screaming coming from the first floor and one of the henchmen caught you two fighting. Jules got the report and I just went with her because she said there’s a fight.” He answers, looking down at their hands holding but giving her hand a light squeeze. “Don’t worry about hurting my feelings.” He says.

Yellow blushes when she feels him squeeze her hand. She frowns, however, the guilt from early in the morning returning. “I’m still sorry. I’m sorry for calling you annoying and reacting the way I did.” she apologizes, hissing at another sharp pain coming from her leg.

He takes a moment to look at her face, the bruises from the fight are dark and very prominent on her face now. He takes his free hand and runs his thumb along her cheek gently, despite her flinching away from his touch.

“That hurts.” She says quietly, shivering at the gesture as her face heats up.

Midas snorts. “Didn’t take you to be the type who can’t handle a little bruising,” he replies.

Yellow rolls her eyes. “Well, I didn’t take you to be the type who wailed like an infant when punched in the nose.”

“Believe me ma chérie, if I had known you were going to hit me that day, you wouldn’t have done so.” He tells her.

Yellow finds herself looking at him, specifically his eye, and how bright it is. Within all the gold, she swears she could see flecks of brown. She snaps herself out of it by shaking her head. “What does that mean?” she asks.

“What does what mean?” he replies.

“Ma cherrie?” she tries to pronounce it which makes Midas chuckle.

“Ma _chérie_.” He corrects her. “It means “my darling” in French.” He then explains.

“Oh, why can’t you just say my darling then?” she questions him, Midas finding her curiosity somewhat cute.

“Slip of the tongue, I suppose.”

Yellow nods, and what comes out of her mouth next stuns her. “I’m sure I’m not the only girl you’ve called my darling though, at least in that language.” Her eyes widen after saying that, her face becoming redder than before.

Midas laughs heartily, the sound making Yellowjackets stomach somersault while at the same time, embarrassment creeping up on her.

“Does that bother you, doll?” he hums and Yellow feels a strand of her hair being wrapped around his finger. “Are you jealous?” there's a hint of teasing in his voice which makes Yellow swat his hand away.

“Why would I be jealous?” she snaps at him, looking away with a huff and crossing her arms.

“Well you beat the shit out of Chic for taking the rose and if that’s not evidence that you li—“ she turns to cover his mouth with her hand, her face scarlet at this point. He continues to talk, though it’s mainly his lips moving against her hand. She moves her hand away moments later.

“You’re so full of yourself.” Yellow scoffs and wipes her hand on the bed before she lays back down on her side.

“Yeah? I don’t see you letting go of my hand though, doll.” He points out.

“I don’t see you letting go either so I guess we have a problem.” She says.

“I suppose we do.”

They both glare at each other, and Yellow can feel the butterflies fluttering in her stomach as Midas looks at her. She looks away, still blushing. “You haven’t accepted my apology yet.” She says.

He raises a brow. “Uh… by the way,” changing the subject quickly, “While you were resting, one of the henchmen brought the rose. They washed the blood off and it still looks good.” He reaches for the plastic bag that’s on the floor by his chair, pulling out the gold rose she had been holding earlier that day.

Yellow sees the rose and smiles, biting her lip as if she's trying to hide it from him. He hands it to her.

“Take good care of it, okay?” he tells her.

She nods, holding the rose to her chest protectively. The action makes Midas smile a little bit.

Through all the butterflies, the feeling of anxiety washes over Yellow. Remembering what Chic told her about becoming another body on his list, she hides her face in the pillow while still clutching the rose. This should not be bothering her as much as it is right now. Never having to deal with feelings like this for very long, the prospect of liking a cold-hearted man like Midas frightens her. This could either end good or ugly, and she isn’t sure if she wants to stick around to find out.

But it’s something about his eye, his face, that voice, and the actions of today that ignites something within her. He helped her earlier and was caring, did he mean to show her that side of him? Yellow groans as she feels her heart beat faster.

_I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t let him in. But it’s so hard not to let him in._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Yellow and Midas like each other, but I'm not sure. From here on out, the angst will get worse. Thanks for reading this far, guys.


	7. Aluminum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jules fucks up big time. Midas and Yellow are a mess.

_One month later…_

Yellow's leg recovery was mostly a success. She felt numbness when she did strenuous training as well as pain from not using her leg enough. It drove her crazy but she was stubborn and insisted on training anyway. As long as she used that leg, she was good to go. Chic had been disciplined by Jules and as a result, she rounded up Midas’ fangirl group to harass Yellowjacket.

Midas found himself wanting to spend more time with Yellow. Ever since that day in the infirmary, the two agents would hang out and end up arguing with each other over little things. They would laugh at insults they threw at one another. Yellow didn’t know what they were, either they were friends or good acquaintances. She just knew that she wanted to spend time with him, too. When they did spend time together, there was humorous banter and small moments of flirting that drove Yellow insane. The same could be said for Midas too, who usually initiated the flirting. Whenever his fan girl group came around she would leave, not wanting to be involved with them. This led to Midas finding her later and complaining about not hanging out with him. It made for good gossip when he complained about the girls, though.

Midas was given clearance by Jules to participate in missions. The missions he was involved in were top secret and it was assigned for him only. These missions involved collecting files on old EGO agents, including his GHOST agents. He questioned his sister as to why she required these files and she would change the subject, completely ignoring his question. This stirred suspicion deep inside Midas. The last two missions he went on involved going to The Shark after receiving reports that a young girl who looked either 16 or 17 years old and was wielding a blue sword was found riding a boat around the small island or riding the boat into the mouth of the prison, as well as being informed that Meowscles and his young son, Kit, were spotted in Catty Corner. To say Midas wasn’t disappointed when he found no trace of his old agents in either area would be a lie.

Jules had been working on a project in secret for the last few months. A project that involved working with a particular Chaos Agent. While Jules spent time rebuilding his Ooze Chamber and his mask, he was granted a lot of time to recover from the gold Midas encased him with, as well as the inevitable gold poison that came with it. He came to Jules with a plan to make SHADOW clones the same way he did his Slurp experiment—instead of infusing the subjects with Slurp, he would use his ooze as the infused ingredient. He called this “DNA tampering”. All she needed were test subjects, willing or unwilling, to allow him to do this. She didn’t have the heart to tell Midas that was why she needed the files of his old agents, nor could she face him about it without him killing her.

When the files Midas provided her within the last month gave Chaos Agent no answers, she was met with a dangerous decision: pick any of her agents to be the test subjects, or he would pick for her. She hadn’t picked anyone yet. She couldn’t, and the guilt was becoming too much. Their last conversation continued to replay in her mind.

_“Then I will pick for you. You have disappointed me, Jules. You have no problem making decisions for other people, but when I come to you asking for help, you cannot do anything for me. What a shame. Have I made the wrong decision in making you a leader? Fusion would pick a group of agents without a second thought.” Chaos Agent declared as his hand ran through the many files piled on the woman’s desk._

_“I can assure you sir, you did not make the wrong decision.” She answered him as his hand stopped on a random file._

_He pulled the file from the pile and read through it. “Agent Yellowjacket?” he said her name in more of a question rather than a statement. “Interesting. This is Midas’ girlfriend, Jules?” he asked her as he nodded towards the many pictures of both him and her in her record._

_“No sir. They’re just coworkers.” She replied, the anxiety she was feeling made her gut twist. Jules grabbed her stomach and winced._

_“Well then. I suppose she will be one of my guinea pigs then!”_

_“No, she will not. I need her! She is a good agent. I have files on agents that no one would miss if they disappeared, why not use those?” she spoke up as she snatched the file from him._

_“Then find me viable agents. Stop sitting here wasting all of our time.” He spat at her, as he adjusted his tie and left her office._

The sun is over the horizon when Midas returns to the agency. After a week of running around the island like a chicken with a missing head looking for files, he is glad to finally be back. He greets the guarding henchmen at the door and makes his way into the building. He almost reaches the stairs when he hears his name. Turning around he sees Yellow standing by the reception desk, a big smile on her face.

“Goldie!” she yells, running towards him.

He notices people in passing are staring at them, some are whispering and nodding their head towards them. As she gets closer, he can’t help but smile as well. Even if it has been a week, he is glad to see her again. He keeps in touch with her through text messages whenever he has a mission.

She gets close enough to where she wants to hug him but stops herself. Clearing her throat, she blushes a light red but the smile remains. “Hey, you!” she greets him.

“Hey, doll.” He nods towards her.

“Welcome back, I can’t believe you’ve been gone for a whole week!”

He chuckles. “Well we did text each other, you still heard from me.”

“Yeah but—“ she huffs. “Nevermind.” She crosses her arms and looks away from the golden man.

The rays from the rising sun paint the windows of the agency, coating everything in hues of red and orange. The colors compliment the woman in front of him, and he could see the light freckles that paint her cheeks. He feels weak at the knees and a rush of excitement and curiosity courses through him. Their interactions, big or small, he always finds something new about her that becomes interesting to him.

He doesn’t feel his lips move, nor does he hear her call his name until she shakes his arm. He looks at her when she does this.

“Who are you calling pretty?!” she must have been asking this for a while now.

He blinks a few times before shaking his head and looking at her again, this time maintaining eye contact with the brown-eyed girl.

“I’m calling you pretty. The sun is pretty too, but you’re the main attraction, doll.”

Yellows eyes widen, her lips part as she tries to find the words to speak. She tries to look away but she finds it impossible to do so.

“You don’t mean that—“ she finally says, her voice shaky.

“I do.”

“But why?” she asks. “You have a group of girls who follow you around and worship you. Why waste a compliment on me?” She finally tears her eyes from him, only to feel his warm hand touch her cheek. She refuses to look at him, but she doesn’t move away from his hand.

“I’m talking to you right now. Doesn’t that count?” his voice is low, making her shiver. “Look at me.”

The tone of his voice makes her look at him. “I’ve been gone the whole week and the first thing I want to do is talk to you.”

Yellow scoffs and moves away from his hand. “Charmer.” She says, a smile making its way onto her face.

“But you like that, don’t you?” he asks her, grabbing her hand when she moves away.

She tries to speak up but gasps when he brings her hand to his lips. He keeps his eye on her as he does this, taking note of how flustered she’s becoming. Letting go of her hand, he smiles. “We can catch up later, okay? I need to talk to Jules.” He tells her, giving her one last look over before biting his lip.

“Ok—“ she clears her throat. “Okay, goldie.” She replies.

As he takes his leave, he looks back to the flustered Yellowjacket with a small smile and nod.

She watches him leave, shifting her eyes from his back and down to the hand he kissed. The spot on her hand where his lips were is tingling, making her bite her lip. She shakes her head moments later, scolding herself. _No, I bet he’s done this with other girls too._ She thinks to herself.

Midas makes his way to his sister’s office, ignoring the dirty looks and whispering he is receiving along the way. He knocks once on the door before going in, not caring about the agent who is currently speaking to Jules.

“I’m back from the mission.” He announces, ignoring the dirty look the agent is giving him.

Jules sighs, clasping her hands together on her desk. “You could have texted me instead of interrupting a meeting.” She says.

“My phone died so I figured I’d tell you in case if you were worried.”

“I wasn’t worried but thanks for informing me. Excuse me, I’m in the middle of a meeting.” She tells him, going back to speak to the agent who keeps giving him the stink eye.

Midas huffs and returns the look before taking his leave. He spends some time in his office going through the paperwork that has been sitting on his desk for the last week. By noon, he makes his way down to the break room to get a snack.

He finds an empty table and eats his snack. Halfway done with the food he hears loud meowing, probably someone's phone going off before he hears the gentle melody of “Never Gonna Give You Up” playing in the distance.

“God damnit X!” Wildcard yells.

Midas looks over to where he hears the yelling.

X Lord is laughing up a storm as he avoids the swats from his partner's newspaper. “That song is so old and so is that prank!” Wildcard scolds him.

Midas can’t help but snort at that. He shakes his head and goes back to his food. As he’s eating, he hears obnoxious giggling and the screeching of chairs at the table he’s sitting at. Internally sighing, and debating on whether or not he wants to look up, his body wins the internal struggle and he looks up. He sees Aura and Slingshot sitting in front of him.

“Hi, Midas!!! We saw you sitting by yourself and wanted to join you! You looked lonely!” Aura greets him, flicking her braids back and smiling at him.

“I’m fine, ladies. Thanks.” He answers flatly, focusing on the gummy bears from his snack.

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Slingshot asks.

“My what?” Midas asks, confusion evident on his face.

“What's her name? Yellowjacket?” Aura inquires.

“That’s not my girlfriend.” He replies.

“Really?” the girls look at each other. “You guys act like a couple!”

“A couple of coworkers, yes. Did you guys sit here to ask me about my life?” he asks while he plays with the gummy snacks.

“We just wanted to talk to you, no need to be so grumpy.” Slingshot huffs, crossing her arms as she leans back in the chair.

Midas picks up one of the remaining gummy bears, turning it to gold. He looks to both women as he holds the bear in the palm of his hand. “I never said I wanted to talk to either of you, yet here you are.” He points out.

The door to the breakroom opens and Midas looks over. Yellowjacket stands there, a paper bag in hand. She looks around for a place to sit when her eyes meet with the golden man, then the company he has at the table. She doesn’t think twice, she goes straight to X Lord and Wildcards table and hangs out with them instead. She can feel his eye burning into her back.

“Why aren’t you sitting with your boyfriend, kid?” X Lord asks her.

Yellow shrugs, pulling a sandwich from the paper bag. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s busy with his other girls if you haven’t noticed.”

“You sound jealous.”

“Trust me, I’m not jealous.”

“I know you, Yellow. You’re chewing that sandwich aggressively.” X Lord points out.

Yellow slows down on the chewing, glaring at her friend as she does so. “I’m not jealous.” She says with her mouth full.

X Lord scoffs. “Gross! But even if you’re not jealous, why does it bother you so much that he talks to other girls?” he asks her.

“It doesn’t bother me. As I said, he can do whatever he wants. I don’t want to be a part of it.”

X Lord sighs in defeat. “Fine, keep your secrets.” He goes back to bothering Wildcard, who is watching more cat videos on his phone.

By the end of the day, Midas finds himself standing on the balcony leading from his room. He lights his third cigarette of the day, avoiding the scolding he is receiving from his mind about not sticking to the one a day plan. It is times like this that Midas misses his old team. He wonders where they are, what they are doing currently. Do they miss him? He isn’t happy here, he doesn’t have friends or connections like he had in The Agency. He has his sister, but even so, can he trust her? A lot of questions race through his head and he groans, knowing he won’t be able to fight off the voices this time.

Then there’s Yellowjacket. The moment he kissed her hand runs through his mind as if it happened minutes prior. Why is he trying so hard to prove himself to her? He doesn’t need anyone’s approval.

He hears her voice now. She’s talking to somebody and he sees her walking out of the building with that shirtless guy again. What is his name again? It doesn’t matter, he determines. He sees Yellow hug the man before waving goodbye to him and leaving the area. He exhales the smoke through his nose as he shakes his head. He shouldn’t be bothered that he kissed her hand. He doesn’t want anything from her and yet he finds himself wanting something with her. Something he can’t put his finger on, but the thought of it alone gives him anxiety and he isn’t sure he can resist the feeling for much longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hated writing this so much but it probably has to do with me being way too fucking tired
> 
> Anyway, I appreciate everyones support and reads. I'm glad people like my material.


	8. Copper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas goes to ask Yellow out at the party and gets cockblocked hardcore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The costume Yellowjacket wears to the party is located here https://i.imgur.com/9VdkH.jpg

Jules sits at her desk, enjoying her favorite pumpkin spice latte as she looks out the window. Autumn welcomes itself to the island, turning the trees leaves orange and making leaves fall everywhere, soon to become a pile everyone will want to jump in. No matter how old Jules is, she will always feel like a child when autumn comes. Along with it being fall, Jules settles on festivities that are involved with the chilly season, such as a Halloween party. She settles on sending a mass text message about the Halloween party, pizza being included, agents are welcome to wear their costumes, and pumpkin spice type things. She includes the location of the party, the ALTER hideout near Heroes Park, Ghost House.

Midas wakes up to his phone dinging nonstop. He groans and reaches for it on the nightstand with his eyes shut. Nearly knocking it off the table, he grabs it before turning it on. He sees the mass text his sister sent out, and the hundreds of replies to it. “You’re all so fucking annoying…” he grumbles, about to text back that he isn’t going when a new text pops up in the group chat. His eye widens when he sees that it’s Yellowjacket.

Yellowjacket to group chat 7:30 AM [I can’t wait for the party! I’m going to blow all of you away with my costume!]

He reads it several times over, even scrolling up through the replies to see her message again. _I guess I can go, but I don’t have a costume,_ he thinks to himself as he types in his reply.

King Midas to group chat 7:35 AM [I’ll go. But Jules, I don’t have a costume.]

Moments later he receives a private text from Jules.

Little shite 7:36 AM [Wow, you’re not a boring bitch for once, I’m shocked! I can help you with a costume for sure!]

He rolls his eye, a tired smile forms on his face.

King Midas 7:37 AM [Yay, I can’t wait…]

Little shite 7:38 AM [Even in text you’re sarcastic Midas, yeesh.]

Little shite 7:40 AM [I was expecting you to say no. What made you say yes?]

King Midas 7:41 AM [I get bored sometimes.]

Little shite 7:42 AM [Or did a certain Yellowjacket change your mind? 😏]

King Midas 7:43 AM [Why do you care? 😒]

Little shite 7:45 AM [Defensive already? No one will judge you if you’re only going to the party because she is. You two should go out on a date or something.]

King Midas 7:46 AM [No. I’m not into workplace relationships. It would be very unprofessional of me to do something like that with a coworker.]

Little shite 7:47 AM [Live a little! You don’t have to have a workplace relationship, you can have a relationship outside of work!]

King Midas 7:49 AM [How does that work? Because I’ll still see her every single day at work and we will have to act professionally.]

Little shite 7:51 AM [Separate work from life]

Little shite is typing…

Little shite is typing…

Little shite 7:54 AM [For once in your life you will have to actually do something for somebody other than yourself. Go on and ask her out. I know you want too, the entire agency knows it too.]

Midas rolls his eye again.

King Midas 7:56 AM [Since when have any of you been this invested in anything in my life?]

Little shite 7:57 AM [It’s okay to have feelings for somebody, it’s a part of being human. I’d rather see you hung up on someone than constantly planning somebody’s death.]

Midas snorts and puts his phone down, not bothering to respond. He rubs his face before sighing and getting out of bed to get ready for another long workday.

_Saturday, October 31_

After intense planning and calling around to get food catering, Durr Burger had offered to cater to the small party at the Ghost House. They would park their food truck at Heroes Park and hungry patrons can walk a few steps over to get some food. The décor is set for the hideout. Black, orange, and white balloons fill the room with child-like joy, and Jules added a fog machine for additional ambiance. Pumpkin spice is also a major theme for this party, taking place in the drinks and pastries on the Hallows Eve decorated tables. Assorted pizzas lay open on the tables, waiting to be eaten by hungry agents.

Jules included Midas in the festive planning. Much to his distaste and him shouting at his younger sister for what he calls a “ridiculous idea”, many of the henchmen agreed to go as GHOST henchmen for the party, but with a twist. The twist being they wore skimpy outfits, corsets, booty shorts, the whole nine yards. Some of the henchmen were entertainers, providing glow sticks and starting dance-offs during a killer song. Other henchmen helped with carrying plates of finger foods and drinks so the catering staff doesn’t have to.

Midas stands in the corner of the lively dance floor, drinking his pumpkin punch. A frown stays on his face as he watches people dance to the music provided by Nitelite. He adjusts the costume crown that he turned to gold after Jules gave it to him. To match his costume there is a golden cape and a scepter to carry, but he settled on carrying his golden king tool instead.

Many of the party-goers wore generic costumes one could find at any Retail Row store and others put more time and effort into their costumes. It isn’t long before Midas’ eye catches something that makes him choke on his punch. Yellowjacket stands across the room, her costume is a maid’s outfit, consisting of a red and white color scheme and white thigh-high stockings. His choking catches her attention because she lights up when she sees him. As she makes her way over to him, he dashes off towards the bathroom, making her stop in her tracks in confusion.

Midas shoves the bathroom door open, still coughing his lungs out. He receives weird looks from the guys in the bathroom but he ignores them and moves to the sink. Once his coughing ceases, he washes his face and tries to regain his composure. He looks in the mirror for a while before he decides to go back out there.

He steps out of the bathroom, only to be immediately stopped by a henchman wearing a prince costume and Demi wearing a princess costume. Both of them match one another in a red and blue color scheme. He groans internally, knowing what will happen next. _Ah shit, here we go again_ , he thinks to himself.

“Hi Midas, fancy seeing you here!” Demi's obnoxious voice still makes him cringe.

“I work here, Demi.” He replies, trying to keep the sarcasm down to a minimum.

The henchman standing beside Demi fiddles with his princely cape. “Wanna dance with us?” he asks the golden man.

“Who are you?” Midas asks the henchman. The question may have come off as rude, as the henchman’s eyes widen in shock.

Demi speaks up for the henchman. “That’s Johnny. He’s new to The Authority. He’s a little bit shy though, the party should help him get out of his shell.”

“I’m not interested, excuse me,” Midas says bluntly as he makes his way through them. He looks around to see if Yellowjacket is still in the room.When he doesn’t find her, he goes outside instead.

Yellow is leaning against the rail outside, talking and laughing with a group of agents. The first thing Midas sees is how short the skirt of her costume is before his eye trails up her legs. The sight in front of him causes him to walk into another party-goer, their drink flying everywhere. The guy yells, shoving Midas against the doorway.

“Watch where you’re fucking going asshole!” he shouts.

Midas scoffs. “Put your hands on me again and I’ll have you melted down into a golden toilet.”

A few of the nearby henchmen give Midas an odd look when he says that and the angry man snorts bitterly, scoffing afterward. “Yeah okay, golden freak.” He spits, storming off.

Midas rolls his eye, only to hear giggling nearby. He looks over to where the sound is coming from and he sees Yellow looking at him, covering her mouth to muffle her giggles. The others in the group are laughing as well. As Midas approaches her, the rest of the group go back inside to dance, leaving the two of them alone.

He looks her over again before he chuckles. “So a French maid, huh?” he asks her.

“Not quite. This is one of Juliet's many costumes from Lollipop Chainsaw.” She answers.

“Lollipop what—“

“It’s a game, Midas.”

He nods, clearing his throat. “You look cute.” He tells her, trying to fight the blush that’s creeping up his face.

“Thank you, and you look cute too! Very kingly. King Midas.” She giggles, joking around by curtsying in his direction.

Midas finds himself admiring her again, only for Yellow to wave her hand in his face. “Helloooooo? Earth to goldie! You’re staring at me again!”

He shakes his head and looks down at her. “Sorry, anyway—I wanted to talk to you about something important.”

“What’s up?” she asks him.

“I was wondering if you—“ Midas is cut off by the door slamming open.

Jules steps out with a laughing Siona. Siona is dressed like a hula girl while Jules is Wednesday Addams. She sees her brother and Yellow standing close to each other, Mida’s hands cupping Yellows face. Jules stops in her tracks at the sight, covering her mouth. “Did I interrupt you lovebirds?!” she asks.

Midas gives her a death glare as an answer while Yellow is redder than a cherry.

Siona starts to laugh again. “You two are so cute! Sorry to ruin the cute moment between you two!”

“Midas, I need you in the hideout to cut the Halloween cake for the guests. Let's go.” Jules speaks up, motioning towards the door.

Midas looks to Yellow with a huff. “We’ll talk later, doll.” He tells her, to which she nods in understanding. He lets go of her face and looks her over one more time before he joins his sister.

As soon as the siblings are gone Siona runs over to Yellow, squealing. “Did he kiss you?!” she asks as she shakes her friend.

Yellow shakes her head. “No! He was going to tell me something before you guys came out!”

“Well come on then, let's get some dancing in before this party gets boring!” Siona drags her back into the hideout.

“Lets cut the cake, Midas!” Jules exclaims as she hands him the cake knife. Henchmen are passing around grape Koolaid in cups as everyone gathers around the cake.

“Shut up.” He grumbles as he takes the knife and starts slicing the cake.

He excuses himself after slicing the entire cake, making his way down the long hall to the bathroom. Midas doesn’t notice the calm silence that consumes the hall. He is tired, wishing to go back to the agency to get some sleep. He gets into the bathroom and immediately moves to the sink to wash his face.

Midas doesn’t hear the stall open or notice the black goop standing behind him. Chaos Agent presses up against Midas’ back, immediately making the man jump and try to shove him away, only to make goop tentacles striking out like a snake to coil around the golden man’s wrists. Those tendrils turn into hands, which he uses to hold Midas’ hands down in the water as another tendril turns on the hot water. Midas immediately yells in pain, struggling against the goop’s hands, but Chaos Agent tuts at him.

“Is the water too hot for you, Midas?” his voice deep, but teasing. His breath tickles the golden man’s neck as he speaks. “How unfortunate for you.”

Midas struggles against the goop’s hands, the skin on his wrists becoming redder as the scalding water continues to hit his golden flesh. The water seemingly does not affect Chaos Agent and his attempts at trying to turn his goopy hands into gold fail.

Midas finally stomps on his foot, his costume heels digging into the goop’s foot. Chaos Agent lets go as he groans in pain, allowing Midas to elbow the goop in the face. He shoves Chaos back, putting a small distance between the two men.

“How are you alive?!” Midas yells, regretting that he didn’t bring his weapon with him to the party.

“Did you think that gold can stop me?” Chaos asks him. If he had a face he would have a raised eyebrow.

“I watched you die! I was the one that killed you!”

“You are also the one who flooded out the island, thinking you could stop SHADOW. Yet here I stand, undefeated. You may have destroyed my agency, but you’re only destroying yourself.” He spits at the golden man, approaching him. The sound of his shoes echoed throughout the bathroom.

Midas feels the gold creeping up his arms as the goop approaches him. “How did you get in here? This is a private party.”

“I received an invitation just like everyone else. I do love parties, Midas. Surely you recall the many you’ve thrown at The Yacht. You invited me to those as well, did you not?” he asks him.

Midas growls at him. “That doesn’t answer my question, who sent you an invitation?”

“Now why would I spoil the fun by telling you that? If I tell you, you will be upset. You will be upset if I don’t tell you. Both will bring me joy, however.” He taunts. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to enjoy.” He dismissively waves his tendril before exiting the bathroom, leaving a confused and angry Midas behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are beginning to get hella sus here uwu, thanks for the kudos and stuff!


	9. Barium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas is an idiot who's absolutely smitten with Yellow, till he kisses someone else.

2 weeks later…

Yellowjacket makes her way into the building with a small takeout bag from Fork Knife. She had slept in, which caused her to be late. Still, she stopped by the food truck to get a small snack for Midas after hearing about the incident involving the gummy bears being turned into gold. She finds herself thinking about him more than she should. Things such as the familiar smell of his cologne, or the rare times he would laugh at a corny joke she would throw his way, and the small moments he shows genuine kindness whether it is to her or another person. A lot of the golden man’s actions bring butterflies to Yellow's stomach, and she feels giddy when she gets to see him at work every day.

She greets every henchman she sees, passing by the break room and making her way down to the training area. Yellow usually finds her golden friend there, and this time is no different. The sound of the gyms door closing catches Midas’ attention, who is in the middle of doing a round of chin-ups. He smiles at her as she approaches him.

“Hey, you.” He greets her as he stops what he’s doing.

She greets him with a smile before looking around. She notices that they’re the only two in the gym. “Wow, the gyms really dead at this hour.” She points out.

Midas chuckles as he approaches the nearby bench to get his water bottle. Yellow watches him, noticing how muscular his arms are. He’s wearing a black tank top and black shorts, and she sees the tattoos that run down his calf. She doesn’t hear him calling her name until he waves a hand in her face.

“Doll? You okay?” he asks her.

Shaking her head, she nods quickly. “Oh, sorry. I uh—I brought you some food.” She tells him as she laughs nervously and holds up the bag of fast food.

He raises a brow at her. “I just finished my workout and you’re enabling me with junk food?” he asks her with a teasing tone.

Her face goes bright red. “I’m sorry—“ he cuts her off by taking the bag.

“I’m just teasing you, love. I appreciate the food, it smells good and I’m hungry.”

Yellows stomach erupts in butterflies at the nickname, this being the first time he’s called her that before. They head to the break room after Midas gathers his towel and water bottle.

Midas feels his anxiety dissipate as he stays around her. Though he spends a lot of time with her and it is temporary relief for the first time in two weeks, he didn’t feel the need to look over his shoulder every so often. Ever since his encounter with Chaos Agent at the Halloween party, he has been on edge. He never did find out who gave that goopy bastard an invitation, or how he survived being turned to gold.

Yellow runs a finger along the tattoos that paints the golden man’s arm. She smiles a little as she looks up at him. “You have so many tattoos.”

Midas hums. “So I’ve heard.”

She rolls her eyes, a giggle escaping her lips. “Well hear it again then.”

Her giggle is music to his ears. Midas smiles at her and Yellow notices his eye glance to her lips before hearing the microwave ding, signaling that the food is ready. Midas rolls his eyes before he moves to get his food.

Midas sits down at a table and Yellow follows shortly after getting some candy from the vending machine. He raises a brow when she sits down with him.

“Candy at 8 am?” he questions her as he digs into the small pasta dish.

Yellow shrugs. “Pasta at 8 am?” she mocks him, earning a chuckle from the golden man.

“Touché darling, touché.

They have a casual conversation as they eat. Being the only two in the breakroom, Midas is comfortable with talking, even making a flirty comment, which gets a positive response from the woman. He goes so far as to ask for her number, which she is hesitant to give to him, but then realizing they’ve been talking and hanging out for a month now, she gives in and now they have each other’s number.

“Darling, do me a favor will you?” Midas asks after a few moments of silence.

“I don’t know, depends on the favor.”

“Tell that boy you’re friends with, what’s his name? X Lord? Tell him to stop posting memes in the group chat and tagging me in them.” He tells her.

Yellowjacket raises a brow. “Are you offended by the memes?”

“No, it’s just annoying and childish."

“You sound offended.” She points out.

He glares at her and Yellow gives him a big smile.

“I have half the mind to wipe that smile off your face.” He says, his eye staying on her.

“How do you plan on doing that?” she challenges him as she leans forward in her seat, her elbows resting on the table.

Midas leans forward which Yellow watches him with confusion. Before Midas can get too close, a chair slams between them, and X Lord sits down.

“GOOD MORNING!!” he shouts.

X feels something touch his helmet right when Wildcard walks into the breakroom.

“Good mor—What the fuck are you doing with my boyfriend?!” Wildcard shouts, causing Yellow and Midas to jump. Midas kissed X Lord's helmet and Yellow covers her mouth with her hand to silence her laughter.

“Why are you kissing my boyfriend?!” Wildcard demands an answer, putting his hands on his hips as he glares at the boy duo.

Midas stammers before looking at X. “Tell him what really happened.” He says to the helmet man.

X Lord doesn’t answer.

“X. Tell him.” Midas sounds more desperate this time.

X takes a moment to come up with an answer before he speaks up. “Midas kissed me!” he complains

Midas slams the table with his hands, making everyone jump. “Liar!” he snarls.

“You motherfucker! When I get my hands on you you’ll wish you weren’t such a fuck boy!” Wildcard storms over to the golden man, who stands up.

Midas stands tall. “And what exactly are you going to do?” he asks.

At this point, people are coming into the breakroom to gather around, as the yelling could be heard from neighboring rooms. Most of them were placing bets on a potential fight. X Lord and Yellowjacket are standing on the sidelines with looks of worry.

“I’m going to do what everyone’s been wanting from the beginning.” Wildcard replies, removing his black gloves.

Midas covers his mouth in mock concern. “Oh no! You want to sleep with me like everyone wants to do?!”

“Everyone but Yellowjacket, you mean.” Wildcard shrugs.

A chorus of ooh’s and hisses can be heard from the crowd, some people are laughing while others continue to place bets on who might win. Midas sneers, though trying to cover it.

“Are you going to hit me or not, Wildcard? I don’t have all day.” He finally speaks up.

Wildcard throws the first punch, which Midas narrowly dodges by a hair. Midas seems taken aback by how fast the man in front of him is. Wildcard follows up with a second punch, this time grazing Midas’ cheek. He has no time to react because the third punch follows, this time hitting him square in the jaw. A loud crack can be heard throughout the breakroom. The Midas fanclub freaks out over this, some of the girls are screaming for Midas to fight back, while others curse Wildcard for putting his hands on their precious sweet boy.

Midas holds his face in his hand as he feels his jaw throb. He wonders how this man can move so fast. He hasn’t been able to land a hit once. He sees that the masked man has his back to him, talking to the onlookers who support him. He takes this opportunity to approach him as he still holds his face. He taps Wildcard's shoulder, and the masked man turns his head to look at him.

“What? Come back for another hi—“ he’s cut off by Midas’ golden fist connecting with his mask. The impact from the hit causes Wildcard to stumble backward into the crowd, as well as the pieces of his mask falling.

Midas hears his fan club cheering him on, earning a roll from his eye. “Can’t stay on your feet now? Weak.” He spits.

The fight escalates when Wildcard is pushed towards him by the crowd and he goes to swing at him again. This time, the golden man grabs the masked man’s wrist in a fit of anger.

“Oh, that is a bad decision, sir,” Midas growls, his grip tightening into a painful hold. Wildcard tries to pull away, but there is no use. Midas twists the man’s wrist, causing Wildcard to hiss in pain.

People begin to panic as the gold rushes up Midas’ arms, and it slowly moves towards Wildcard.

Wildcard looks at Midas with don’t you dare written all over his masked face.

Some run to look for a henchman to break up the fight, others are too afraid to move in case if they become victims to the golden touch. X Lord rushes over to try and pull his boyfriend away from Midas. He is finally able to pull him away from the golden man. Midas tries to follow, only for Yellow to get in his way.

“Move.” He snaps at her.

She stays firm in her spot, crossing her arms. “No. Think about what you’re doing right now and the consequences you’ll face if you go after him.” She responds.

“If you don’t move then I’ll turn you to gold.”

“Do it.” She keeps her eyes on him, her face void of any fear.

He looks her over, practically leering. They say nothing to each other for a few moments, and the gold creeps back down Midas’ arms. He softens up as they stare at one another. He still doesn’t understand why she makes him feel like this, and yet he is curious and wants more of this feeling.

“You’re… annoying, darling.” He tells her.

Yellow rolls her eyes. “So are you.”

“Then we have a problem on our hands.”

“We do.”

Suddenly the breakroom door slams open and a group of henchmen swarm in. Jules follows behind them, pure rage paints her face as she points an angry finger at the duo.

“My office. Now.” She says through gritted teeth.

“Starting a fight in the breakroom, physically assaulting each other—do I need to continue?” Jules yells at the group.

Midas and Wildcard start to talk over each other, mainly blaming the other for the fight. Yellow facepalms while X Lord squirms in his seat.

When the two men don’t stop yelling over each other, Jules companion Ohm flies from its perch to peck them both. Wildcard swats at the robotic bird while Midas yelps.

“Ow, your fucking bird pecked me!” the British man complains.

“Enough!” she shouts, slamming her hands on her desk. “I want to know why you two think its okay to behave this way!”

“He kissed my boyfriend!” Wildcard speaks up.

“It was an accident!” Midas snarls at him.

“So you were supposed to kiss Yellowjacket then?!”

“No!”

“Make up your mind then! You kissed my fucking boyfriend!” Wildcard shouts at him.

“I’m so happy for you, X. You have two men pining after you now.” Yellowjacket says, earning a snort from the helmeted man as he elbows her.

Midas glares at her with offense and anger. “I don’t think anyone in here agrees with you.” He spits at her.

“Well Sherlock, everyone outside of this office agrees with her!” Wildcard snaps.

Midas groans as he hears X Lord and Yellow laugh and Wildcard facepalms.

“I hate it here,” Midas says bluntly.

“I don’t care. X Lord, Wildcard, you are dismissed. I need to speak to my brother and Yellowjacket.” Jules says.

Once the duo is gone, Jules sighs and rubs her face. “I had plans to give this assignment to another agent duo, but because you’ve pissed me off Midas, I will send you and Yellow.” She says.

“Why me?! I didn’t do anything!” Yellow stands up as she motions towards Midas. “He’s the one who got into the fight!”

Midas rolls his eye.

“Sit down,” Jules growls at her. “If I send Wildcard one of them would come back alive.”

Yellow sits down with a huff, crossing her arms. “Why can’t I just go with X Lord? Why Midas?”

He shakes his head with a scoff. “Acting like it’s the end of the world that you have to work with me.”

“Midas is familiar with the area you’re being assigned to,” Jules explains.

This catches Midas’ attention as he leans forward in his seat.

“You two will be heading to The Shark in the morning. There has been a disturbance on the abandoned island and I need you two to investigate it.”

“What kind of disturbance?” asks Yellow.

“That’s the thing. I don’t know. I sent a few henchmen to investigate the area about a week ago and they haven’t returned. The mission was supposed to last for only 3 days.”

“So what you’re saying is you want us to see if those henchmen are still alive? They’re just henchmen, you can replace them…” Midas says.

Jules glares at him. “Some of my best henchmen that have families and shit. Be a little more considerate you nonce.”

Yellow rolls her eyes and sighs. “Fine. We’ll do it.”

“Good! You two will leave early in the morning. Bring a lot of ammo as well, those loot sharks are vicious.” Jules concludes, giving Midas a smirk as she mentions the loot sharks.

“Look here you little shit—“ Midas starts as Jules starts laughing over him.

As they leave the office, Midas walks ahead of Yellow.

“Midas?” she asks him as she tries to catch up.

He stops, causing her to run into his back with an oof. “What.” He says flatly.

“What’s wrong? You seem angry.”

“Really? What was your first clue?”

Yellow rolls her eyes. “I’m not a mind reader, how am I supposed to know what’s up with you when you look like this every day?”

Midas turns around on his feet and glares at the small woman before him.

“I don’t like loot sharks and it seems apparent my situation has become the agency joke.” He growls.

She frowns. “Oh, I didn’t know that. Did you almost get eaten or something?”

He nods and sighs. “It sounds childish when I say it but it bothers me. I could have died that day.”

“Well you’re here still, and you’ve survived all of the bad days you’ve had. That’s something, you know.” She tells him, resting her hand on his arm.

Midas feels himself relax to her touch. There is a calm silence between them for a few moments before she hears a quiet thank you from him.

“You’re welcome! Your feelings are valid, Midas. It’s going to be okay. I’m here with you. I don’t leave any partner of mine behind.”

His face turns a bright shade of red. “Partner—“ she interrupts him quickly as she starts to blush as well.

“I meant work partners! Work partners! Not partner partners!” she says quickly, looking away so she can stop blushing.

Midas snorts. “Yeah, okay doll.”

They’re quiet for a few moments as they look at each other again. It doesn’t last long, however.

“Do you want me to ask X Lord out for you?” Yellow finally asks, trying to fight the smile growing on her face.

Suddenly, the henchmen sitting in the small office hear screaming. Yellow runs by their office, Midas closing in on her.

“Ah shit, here we go again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *nonce is british slang for idiot


	10. Gallium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas realizes that you can't hide from your past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify, Shadow Midas is NOT Fortnitemares Midas, this is FACTION Midas. Fortnitemares Midas will deffo be added later though. 
> 
> Follow my insta for updates and shit https://www.instagram.com/princessrenanana/

Shadow Midas makes his way to his boss’s office. It’s another long workday but he doesn’t complain. He enjoys working within the chaos. Here, he is treated with respect. Had he stayed in The Authority, however, he would be treated like dirt. Jules doesn’t take him seriously. She doesn’t take his GHOST counterpart seriously either. She considers both of them to be fake versions of her older brother. While hurtful, Shadow Midas accepts that Jules isn’t his sister.

He knocks on Chaos Agent's door before stepping in. Chaos is in a meeting with three nervous-looking henchmen. Fusion is standing beside him, arms crossed and a shit-eating grin painting his fiery face. Chaos seems to be yelling at them, as one of the henchmen are shaking in their seat.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I just received word that ALTER is going to investigate The Shark for the missing henchmen you swiped up.” Shadow Midas says.

Chaos Agent rubs his face as he sighs. “Just what we need. Have you three met my brother, Shadow Midas?” Chaos asks the nervous henchmen, who shake their heads vigorously. “What a shame,” he starts, motioning towards the henchmen. “Go ahead. Show them what happens when they’re disobedient. What a shame, too. You’re some of Jules’ best men… but even she knows the consequences for disobeying me. I gave you a chance to join me, but I guess dogs are loyal until the end.”

The statement earns a cackle from the fiery man. “Good one boss!” he praises, earning a sneer from Shadow Midas.

“You have brown on your nose, Fusion.” He says casually, snorting when the fiery man wipes his face.

“I do not— Hey! You’re not funny!” Fusion snaps at him, as Shadow Midas puts his hands up in mock surrender.

The shadow king gets to work on the henchmen. One of them screams when he grabs their arm, the gold immediately encasing their limb. He hushes them as he shakes his head. “I hate it when you struggle. Just let me make you pretty.” He hums as he watches the henchman in front of him slowly turn to gold. They stagger at first, shoving him back with their unaffected limb. They then try to get up, only to collapse when one of their legs becomes solid gold. The other two henchmen are too scared to move. They keep their eyes on Shadow Midas, as he watched on in interest as the henchman becomes completely gold.

Silence blankets the room, Shadow Midas is looking at the now golden henchman. The other two henchmen stay silent even though they’re crying judging by the tear stains on their masks. “Yay, my first statue for my new room!” he finally speaks up.

Chaos Agent clears his throat. “Right. Fusion, make yourself useful and take that statue to his room. It’s the least you can do since you took so long to get back to me.”

“Sir—“ Fusion is cut off by Chaos Agent putting his hand up.

“Now.” Is all he says.

As Fusion and Shadow Midas leave the office with the statue, the two men hear screams from the remaining henchmen coming from their boss’s office. On the way to the room, Shadow Midas proceeds to talk the fiery man’s ear off. Fusion has never wished for death as much as he did right this second.

“And I’m really excited because ever since boss man bought back the Slurp Factory, I get my room and everything and—“ Shadow Midas is interrupted by Fusion yelling.

“Enough already! I just want to get this over with, I have better things to do!” he yells at him.

“Well aren’t you just rude? No wonder Jules is such a bitch—“ Fusion drops the statue and slams him against the wall. He keeps a tight hold of the shadowed king’s collar.

“Say that again.” He spits at him as Shadow Midas starts to laugh.

“Touchy. No wonder Chaos Agent doesn’t take you seriously.”

“Oh, he takes me very seriously. Remember, you were nothing when I was his full-time right-hand man. Don’t think for one second I won’t end your life right here and take that spot back.” He shakes him. “He wouldn’t miss you in the slightest.”

“Poor baby. You’re so protective of Jules as if you two aren’t betraying one another.” He snorts. “Or maybe, it is you that is betraying her. Does she know where you are? Or wait! I have a better question, does she _know_ the real you?”

Fusion is quiet for a moment before he lets the shadow king go. “Don’t be so stupid.” He snaps at him as he moves to pick up the dropped statue.

It is early morning when Midas and Yellowjacket set off to what was left of The Shark. They agreed to take a boat as it would be a quieter approach should any enemies be waiting. This being Yellowjacket’s first mission with the golden man, she is nervous to say the least. He is an elite agent after all and he does have high expectations for anyone who works with him.

The boat ride is quiet, with Midas at the driver’s seat and Yellow behind him, organizing their weapons and ammo.

“How do you want to approach this?” he finally asks, breaking the silence.

“I think you should investigate the prison. You’re afraid of loot sharks so staying outside wouldn’t help either of us. I’ll keep watch.” She answers.

He grunts and the boat increases in speed as they approach the fin of The Shark. Yellow is in awe at the sight of what was once considered a prison. She never had the chance to see it for herself until now.

“This is so cool! Who ran the prison?” she asks the golden man.

Midas snorts. “An old agent of mine, Skye. This was her territory and she ran it well.” He answers her.

“Oh? What happened to her?”

Midas is quiet for a moment before answering. “I don’t know. She had been run out of this place and no one has been able to locate her, despite people calling in with sightings of her.”

Yellow nods and picks up her backstabber once they dock inside of The Shark. She hops off the boat as Midas turns it off and she tosses his bag to him. He catches it, grunting a thank you.

“I’ll keep watch outside. Go in there and find whatever it is Jules needs. Be careful.” She tells him as she heads towards the end of the metal dock.

“Here.” He catches her attention. He pulls a Pump Shotgun out of his bag, turning it to gold before tossing it to her. “If you want to shark hunt as you’re guarding, fine. I want half of the loot though.”

She catches it with a chuckle. “Sure thing, goldie.”

Midas wastes no time in getting to work. Searching every room on the main floor, he tries to find any clues that could lead to the disappearance of Jules’ henchmen. Though he knew about the downfall of Skye and The Shark, he didn’t realize how bad the ruins were until now. The nagging feeling of guilt hits his stomach and he tries to ignore it as he passes by another flickering TV. Midas continues to look through the prison. He takes note of small disturbances that could be heard throughout the ruins. The groaning of metal paneling, taps on the walls, and the crashing of waves against the beach that surrounded the area.

He climbs the stairs until he reaches the second floor, immediately stopping in his tracks when he steps in something wet. Looking down, he sees a puddle of red before his eye looks ahead. In front of him is what he can only describe as someone painting the room red. Blood is everywhere, and even though the place is already in ruins, it is obvious a fight had taken place here and whoever it was that had been fighting lost. Midas doesn’t hear the sound of footsteps approaching behind him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s like a museum in here.” The silky voice startles Midas.

Midas draws his pistol from his holster immediately and turns around to see Chaos Agent standing behind him, hands behind his back. He is relaxed as Midas points the gun at him.

“Jumpy, are we?” Chaos chuckles. “Put the gun down, for if you shoot me, my brother will take care of your partner.”

Midas tenses up at that, hesitant to put the gun down. “I don’t believe you.” He says through gritted teeth.

“Do you like to play risk, Midas? You seem to be doing that a lot lately.”

“Do You LIKe To PlAy rIs—shut up! Why are you here?! This is Skye’s territory, not yours.”

“Calm down. She was my agent too.” Chaos says calmly.

“You used her!”

“And you didn’t? Tell me Midas, do you get a thrill out of making a child do the dirty work for you? A child watching a prison filled with dangerous criminals and spies?” Chaos circles around Midas, despite the golden man’s gun following him. “Greed is such an ugly color on you, but it fits.”

Midas bites back a snarl. “Don’t lecture me as if you’re some saint! You’re no better than me so save it for someone who cares!”

If Chaos had a face he would be smiling right about now. “You know what I love about you? You can’t take responsibility for your actions. It is no surprise that nobody respects you anymore. You dig yourself into a hole and you just continue to dig down, instead of trying to get out of it. Your sister manages to surpass you at such a young age. She becomes the boss and everyone respects her,” he stops beside one of the bloody walls, taking his finger and tracing the sticky substance. “But you know what makes her better than you?” he turns around with the bloody finger pointing in the golden king's direction. “She can take responsibility for her actions.”

“Then you don’t know her at all, mate.” Midas snorts as he lowers his gun.

“Mate, hm? Informal nickname I see.”

“I’m not going to call you God-Emperor or whatever the fuck it is you go by nowadays.” He spits at him.

“I’m hurt.”

“Boo fucking hoo.”

Yellowjacket kills her third loot shark as she waits for Midas to return. The sharks she had killed so far haven’t dropped loot to take home to mom but it will have to do. It is mostly bullets and some lower-level weapons. She promised to split the loot with Midas, so he’s going to get the low tier weapons.

She sighs as she retrieves the bullets and another submachine gun that the loot shark dropped in its defeat. She presses her earpiece once.

“Midas. I’m still watching the perimeter and I see nobody. Loot sharks are dropping shit loot. Did you get what we came for?”

She doesn’t receive a response.

“Midas? Can you hear me?”

No response again.

She groans. “For fucks sake.” She hisses to herself as she kneels to get her bag together to go look for him. She packs the ammo and submachine guns into her bag, not hearing the shuffling of sand behind her.

“You were calling for me?” a deep voice made Yellow scream and jump away from her bag, her utility dagger at the ready as she eyes the man behind her. It is Midas who’s standing there, except he’s in black clothing and Yellow is confused.

“The fuck? Did you change your clothes or something?” she asks, motioning at his outfit with the dagger.

The black-dressed man looks down at his clothes and then at her. “Oh, yeah.” He answers with a more cheery tone than what Yellow is used to.

“Why?”

“I found a clue while on the second floor and ended up slipping and falling on a puddle of blood, so I needed to change.”

“Okay well, show me what it is. Next time I fucking contact you, you need to answer instead of giving me anxiety.” She huffs at him.

“I’m sorry, doll.” He apologizes.

Yellow stops in her tracks to give him a funny look. She’s not used to him apologizing to her. She’s only heard him apologize once a month ago and that was it.

“What is it?” he asks her when she keeps looking at him.

She shakes her head, smiling nervously. “I’m not used to you apologizing, sorry.” She laughs awkwardly. When he doesn’t answer her, she sighs and follows him into the prison. She keeps her backpack close to her as they walk.

Midas is covered in blood, most of it his own. To say he underestimated his old rival would be accurate. In the amount of time it has been since the two fought with one another, Midas could not recall Chaos being this strong. He wipes his face with his hand, eyeing the blood that leaks from his nose. He glares at the man standing before him, who is adjusting his tie.

“I hope you are done, Midas. You’ve caused very little damage to me while you’re bleeding and a total mess.” Chaos speaks up finally.

“Fuck you.” Midas spits towards him, earning a chuckle from him.

Chaos picks up the manila folder that sits on the broken filing cabinet beside him. “I believe you are looking for this. However, you can tell Julia that this is the price one must pay for their disobedience.”

“Disobedience?” Midas asks, frowning.

“Oh? She must not have told you. I will not spoil it either. You should ask her.”

Before Midas can speak again, a sharp kick to his stomach makes him collapse to the ground, hacking up blood in the process. Chaos grabs the man’s hair with his free hand, making him look up at him. Midas groans in pain, fighting against his grip despite the burning pain in his scalp and the pain in his stomach.

“The next time we meet, Midas, one of us may die. I hope it is you instead of me.” He hisses at him, letting the man go.

Midas listens as the man’s footsteps fade away, followed by the slam of a metal door. He holds his stomach as the pain starts to dull.

The prison is silent as if he is the only one there, Midas realizes. He tries to reach out to Yellow with his earpiece and he doesn’t receive a response. It isn’t until moments later that he hears an ear-piercing shriek followed by a gunshot. He immediately runs in the direction of the gunshot, worry eating away at his gut.

“Yellowjacket!”

Yellowjacket is in the middle of investigating the room that Midas led her to. The silence between them is making her anxious, the feeling making her hiccup. She covers her mouth with her free hand as she waves the flashlight around the darkroom. She doesn’t hear Midas, however. He put her over here while he searches the other side of the floor. She would expect to hear the swift steps from his shoes as there is gold on the soles.

She sets the flashlight down on the floor and begins to move the broken filing cabinet out of her way to continue her search. She finds a bloodied henchmen helmet, the unsettling find causes her to shudder and emit another hiccup. She shakes her head and taps her earpiece, receiving static instead of her partner’s voice. She frowns as she hiccups again.

 _Something is wrong. Something is very wrong_ , her mind fills her with worry.

She turns around, almost screaming when she bumps into Midas, who is looking at her. She clutches her chest with one hand as she tries to push him away with the other. “You dick—“ she starts to yell at him before her voice gets caught in her throat.

“Something wrong?” the black dressed man asks her, his voice low.

His entire body is encased in gold, except for his clothes which Yellow has never seen before as she looks him over. “Uh…” she trails off, confusion evident in her voice. “I uh… henchmen helmet behind filing cabinet and… uh…. Blood.” She isn’t able to take her eyes off of him.

“You’re gold… fully gold…” is all she could say after a moment as she backs up against the wall, him following her. She is flustered, even more so when he closes in on her.

“I can make you feel like gold.” He purrs, a golden hand going under her chin to keep her looking at him.

“Midas we have a mission—“ he cuts her off.

“So? What’s the big deal about 20 minutes? It’s just you and me here.”

At this point, she tries to push him away again, but he doesn’t budge. She starts to hiccup when he doesn’t move.

“Now kitten—“

The pet name in itself causes Yellow to harshly shove him away, the force is enough to make him stumble back. Anger is carved in the golden man’s face.

She pulls out the golden shotgun he had given her earlier and aims it at him. “You’re not Midas! You can’t be him! Maybe I’m hallucinating!” she yells at him.

“What are you, crazy?” he laughs at her. “I am Midas. What’s wrong? Can’t take a compliment?” he teases her.

Yellow swallows hard, her grip tightening on the shotgun. “You’re not Midas. Midas would never call me kitten. He also would never flirt with me like this!” she replies, another hiccup making her jump a little.

“You don’t know what you’re doing with that weapon, doll.” He points out. “You shoot me, nothing will happen.” He knocks on his golden arm, the sound making a clinking noise that is similar to a hammer hitting metal.

“Fuck around and find out! If you are Midas, what was the gift you gave me that solidified our friendship?” she asks him, cocking the shotgun.

“This is ridiculous, I’m taking that gun back and when we get back to Jules I’ll tell her how unstable you are—“ he steps towards her, only for her to scream and shoot him. The gunshot is so loud, the ringing that begins in her ears makes her feel nauseous.

As he said, the bullet flies off him but the man flees anyway when he hears somebody shout Yellows name. She slides down against the wall, covering her ears with her hands as the ringing continues. This isn’t the first time she’s fired a gun, hell, she is an expert in weaponry. However, this is different. The bullet hit something metal and the impact amplified the gunshot sound.

She doesn’t hear her name being yelled, or the approaching footsteps. She screams when she sees Midas in front of her again, trying to push him away.

“Yellow, it’s me! It’s okay!” he tries to calm her, finally grabbing her hands to make her stop.

She notices the change of clothing as well as the blood and she hiccups. “What the fuck is wrong with me?” she says quietly to nobody in particular.

Midas frowns. “What do you mean, doll?” he asks her, his voice gentle.

“I saw you in black clothing—you told me to come up here and search for more clues and I did and I found a helmet and I tried to reach you and when I couldn’t I went to look for you and I ran into you and you backed me up against the wall and was being really creepy and— and now you’re bloody and in normal clothing!“ she continues to ramble.

Suddenly it felt like the world stopped around Midas. Black clothing. Ballsy. Creepy. Evil. The harsh realization hits him like a bus and he pales more than he already is. _It can’t be_ , his mind tries to reason, _that’s impossible. I threw him off the cliff and he landed in the ocean_ , _how is he alive?_

“Yellow…” he finally speaks up after a few moments of silence. “That isn’t me. I was on the third floor.”

His words sounded genuine, which makes Yellow frown. “So what? You’re going to tell me you have a twin or something?” she snaps, trying to push him away.

He grabs her hands before she can attack him again. “Listen, I could sit here and spend the entire day explaining to you what might be going on, but we don’t have time. We have to report back to Jules on our findings.” He tells her, his voice calm but firm.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” she yells, pulling her hands away from him. “You expect me to just believe you didn’t do anything to me?!”

“Why in the bloody hell would I try to assault you?!” he yells over her.

This grabs her attention and she looks at him, quieting down. They both look at each other for a while.

“Do you trust me?” he finally asks her, his voice calm.

Eventually, she nods and he looks relieved. He offers his hand to her. She takes it and he pulls her up. “As long as you’re with me, you’re safe.” He tells her.

Her face turns red and she looks down at their hands. He hadn’t let go of hers and she wasn’t about to let go either.

The trip back to The Authority was quiet and uneventful. Midas piloted the boat again and Yellow stayed in the passenger seat behind him. From time to time, she could have sworn he was looking at her. They didn’t talk about the hand holding situation. They reach the agency by low noon, rushing to get to Jules’ office. Midas doesn’t knock on the door. He barges straight in, earning a groan from Jules who is in the middle of paperwork.

“Oi, fuck off! I told you to knock!” she yells at him, throwing her pen down on the desk.

Midas rolls his eye. “We found some evidence.” He tells her.

“Did you? Where’s Yellow?” Jules asks before seeing Yellow peek out from behind the tall man.

“Here, ma’am—“ she answers, earning a snort from Midas.

“Small fry.” He teases, earning a nudge in his side from her.

They discuss the clues they found, Yellow drowning out the conversation as she finds herself looking up at the golden man. Despite the earlier events, she still feels safe with him, but she is also curious about the conversation he brought up at the prison. What did he mean by it taking all day? He certainly is a man of mystery, she realizes, and it fascinates her. She wants to know more. Yellow is pulled from her thoughts when she feels him nudge her.

“I need to talk to Jules, I’ll meet up with you later?” he asks her, to which she nods and gives him and Jules a smile before she leaves.

“Let's talk on the balcony, shall we?” Midas motions to Jules after the woman leaves.

The siblings help themselves to pumpkin spice whiskey and cigarettes as they sit in silence, every once in a while they would banter with one another. It isn’t until a while later when Midas flicks his cigarette ashes into the tray that he speaks up.

“I uh, ran into an old rival of mine today.”

Jules sips her drink before grunting. “Oh? Which one?” she asks.

“Chaos, of course.”

Jules’ eyes widen and she ends up choking on her drink. She coughs, turning away from the golden man and smacking her chest. Midas watches her with a raised brow. She composes herself after a moment, clearing her throat.

“You’re uh, you’re joking right?” she asks him hesitantly.

“I’m afraid I left my clown nose in my room.” He answers.

“But he’s dead!”

“I thought so too. I was the one who ‘killed’ him, anyway.” He uses air quotes.

“Interesting…” Jules trails off, sipping her drink again.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You were coughing pretty hard there.”

“Yeah, the drink went down the wrong way.” She answers as she coughs again.

“Be real with me. You knew about this all along, didn’t you?”

“No! Don’t be stupid now, why would I know if he’s still alive or not, Midas?”

“I guess I don’t understand why he’s telling me about you and your “disobedience” towards him. Funny bit, innit?”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Jules tries to reassure her older brother.

“Bullshit. Julia, I know he was your old boss. I’m not as dumb as you think I am.” He counters.

Jules stands up angrily, the balcony chair screeching against the floor with force. “Then why the fuck are you asking if I’m just a liar then?!”

“Why can’t you just tell the truth?” he raises his voice, keeping his eye on her.

“You’re one to talk, Midas! You lie about everything!” her accent starts to show more as she yells at him, “You fuckin’ expect honesty from us yeah but you always lie too! You can’t expect honesty when you’re a fuckin’ liar!”

“Don’t you dare turn this on me, Julia. I’m not the one who worked for that sludgy bastard so don’t you project onto me. Now, what happened? Did you make a deal you can’t get out of? I can help you if it’s a debt. You know that.”

“I don’t want your fuckin’ help!” she slams the carton of cigarettes down on the table before she shoves the chair into the table. She picks up her drink and heads to the balcony door before turning to look at him. “You’re not the king of this island anymore, what don’t you understand? You don’t run anything! I rule this island and that’s how it's going to be. I don’t need your help, I don’t need anyone's help. I made it this far without that, why would I need it now? You should stick to your own business. Maybe while you’re at it, you should find learn and embrace the definition of honesty. I know it’s not in your vocabulary and that young lady you’ve been talking to for a while probably has no idea what kind of person you are, how evil you can be. But just… just fuck off, okay? Do your work and just stay out of my business.”

Midas groans when the door slams, hiding his face in his golden hands. He stays like this for a while. The reminder of how evil he is echoes throughout his mind and the noise becomes too much for him to handle. Without a second thought, he leaves the balcony.

_You are a liar._

He shakes his head as he moves quickly to find the one person who doesn’t judge him. The beating of his heart drowns out the noise around him as he makes his way outside. It doesn’t take him long to find Yellowjacket. She stands against a tree, holding her phone. She keeps looking around her as if she’s waiting for something.

_Maybe you’re too good for me._

“Yellow—“ he approaches her.

She jumps, about to step away when she realizes it’s him. She relaxes slightly. “Oh—you scared me.” She laughs sheepishly.

Her laugh makes him smile a little, though it fades away.

_She has no idea what kind of person you really are. How evil you are._

“I’m going to do something weird, okay?” he asks her with caution.

“Ummm… okay?” she hesitates.

Midas moves closer to her. When she doesn’t back away, he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. The gesture shocks Yellow and it takes a moment for her to register what is going on. When she finally realizes, she hesitates to put her arms around the golden man’s neck. This makes him embrace her tighter. They stay like this for a while, Yellow hiding her face in his chest. The deep scent of scotch and laundry detergent is enough to keep her calm while the soft scent of metal mixed with a light cologne makes her not want to let him go. Midas inhales the crisp scent of orange and autumn from the girl’s hair, causing him to press her against him. Yellow squeaks when he does this but doesn’t pull away.

He soon pulls back from her, but not before kissing her cheek lightly. Yellow feels her face heat up at the gesture. “Midas—“ he cuts her off.

“No… it’s my way of saying thank you for trusting me. You are the only one that does.” He says to her, brushing her hair back.

“Oh?” she asks.

Midas nods before he moves his hands away from her. “Yes.”

“Well duh, silly! Of course, I trust you, you’ve not given me any reason to not trust you.”

“Other than my past…”

“Your past does not define your character now.” She reassures him.

He’s quiet for a moment before he nods. “I should uh, get back to work. I’ll see you later?” he asks her.

Yellow nods before giving him a small smile. “You have my number, silly.” She reminds him.

He watches her leave and once she’s out of sight, he sighs. Making his way back to the building, he ignores the henchmen who greet him and everyone else as he goes back to his office.


	11. Manganese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midas is a simp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY HAD MOTIVATION AND DFKGJRTFNHKESNB
> 
> I HOPE IT REMAINS SO I CAN CATCH UP ON WRITING THIS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
> 
> Update 1/3/21: Rereading my work I realized I mentioned Midas asking/receiving Yellowjackets number twice. This has been edited and X Lord thinks Midas is a stalker. More edits have been made because of this so you may need to reread this chapter.

Done with work for the day, Yellowjacket makes a stop at Retail Row to pick up a few things, one of which was friendship bracelets. She valued her friends as much as she valued her family. Hell, they were her family in the long run. She hadn’t seen her parents since she graduated from the academy and even then they were not pleased with her decision to become an agent. Yellow wasn’t one to listen to others, though. She followed her dreams the best she can and being an agent just happened to be one of those dreams.

The friendship bracelet Yellow picked for Midas was black and simple. She noticed he wore a lot of black, and this would be just another accessory in the sea of black he drowns himself in. Her mind wanders back to earlier when he randomly approached her to kiss her cheek.  _ Why did he do that? More importantly, why did he thank me for trusting him? Wasn’t that what friends were supposed to do? He even hugged me! Did he like me? _ Many questions run through her head, making her huff in frustration as she crosses the bridge into Weeping Woods. She tries to swallow the self-doubt that was beginning to form, reminding herself she does not have the time to think about such trivial things, but her brain doesn’t back off for long before she thinks about Midas again.

Approaching her door to the cabin that overlooked the woods, she digs through her bag for her keys when she hears a snort. “Big sis? That you?” the familiar strong Spanish accent makes Yellow jump before she turns around, seeing her sister Ruby stand behind her with the goofiest grin she’d ever seen.

“Ruby!” she squeals, nearly tackling the other girl to the ground. Ruby laughs as she hugs her older sister. It has been a few years since they’ve seen one another. Both girls took different paths in life, but they still supported one another in their decisions.

“Been a long time, Yellow. How have you been?” Ruby finally asks once they get off of the floor and dust themselves off.

“Oh gosh, I’ve been great! I finally graduated from the academy! I’m an agent at last!” Yellow replies, speaking a mile a second as her hands shake and fail to unlock her door. 

Once they’re inside, Ruby looks around the small cabin in admiration. “Wow. I like the decor. The gold rose is a nice touch.” she motions towards the gold rose that Yellow has in a vase on the table. 

Yellow smiles. “So how’s life been going for you?” she asks her younger sister as she digs through the fridge for a snack.

Ruby plops down on the couch, kicking her shoes off and resting her feet on the coffee table. “Life has been busy… Got a lot of jobs. Places to be, people to see… I’m so happy for you becoming an agent. That is definitely your calling.”

Yellow smiles at her kind words, sitting down on the couch beside her with a string cheese snack. “How’s mom and dad?”

“They’re doing alright. They asked about you. I didn’t know how to answer.” she shrugs.

Yellow frowns slightly. She remembered the fight she had with them when she left for the academy. Shaking her head, she gives Ruby a small smile. “You said you had a lot of jobs? Freelance or?”

“Yeah, let’s call it freelance.” Ruby snorts as she takes some of the string cheese Yellow offered her. “I’m basically an agent, just for a different company.”

Yellow tilts her head. “A different company?” she asks, “I thought A.L.T.E.R. was the only agency on the island.”

“They are. They’re the superior company. I work for a small company. We keep to ourselves mostly, but we get the job done. We prefer it this way.” Ruby explains. Yellow nods in understanding, not attempting to pry further. Ruby was the kind to keep secrets. She was a troublemaker growing up and always knew how to lie her way out of things.

Yellows phone dings after a while of gossiping and talking about how many boyfriends the girls accumulated over the last couple of years. She sighs and looks at her notifications, the agency group chat blowing up. Rolling her eyes, she reads through the messages until one catches her eye.

7:25 PM [King Midas to group chat:] Hey does anyone know where Yellowjacket lives? I need to speak to her about something.

7:26 PM [X Lord to group chat:] You’re stalking her? You sick fuck, you haven’t even dated!

7:26 PM [King Midas to group chat:] Mate, I haven’t a single idea where you mix stalking and asking for someones location… stop it. Get some help.

Yellowjacket rolls her eyes as she proceeds to read their argument. She wastes no time in sending Midas a message. After all, she had planned on doing so from the beginning, but she had priorities that did not involve entertaining a certain golden boy. But now he wanted to know where she lived without an explanation. As soon as she sends the text, her phone dings with a text message.

7:28 PM [Midas to you:] Hey.

Ruby had preoccupied herself with something, giving Yellow time to reply to the man.

7:29 PM [You to Golden Dick:] hi????

7:32 PM [Midas to Bumblebee:] Can we meet somewhere in a little while? I need to tell you something really important.

7:34 PM [You to Golden Dick:] But it’s dark outside and there's a storm… there’s no way I'm going out there. Sorry.

7:36 PM [Midas to Bumblebee:] I could always come see you instead. ;)

If Yellow could roll her eyes any farther, she would be able to see her brain.

7:38 PM [You to Golden Dick:] Now you sound like a fuck boy.

7:40 PM [Midas to Bumblebee:] Scared of me finding out where you live?

7:41 PM [You to Golden Dick:] Well no, I’m trying to understand why you can’t just tell me over text what you want to talk about. Time is money to you, so why do you want to waste it on me?

He takes his time to reply. Yellow set her phone down and spends more time with her sister. After an hour of watching TV and chowing down on various snacks, Ruby stretches and checks her phone before going to get her shoes. “Hey, so I need to get going. Job duties. It was nice seeing you again, sis. You have my number if you need to talk okay?” she gives Yellow a hug before she leaves for the night.

Now Yellow was alone in the cabin. She forgot about her conversation with the golden man, so when she gets a knock at her door and opens it, nearly jumping out of her skin when she finds him at her door, she immediately feels guilty for not checking her phone. There he stood, drenched in rain. His golden eye glows through the aggressive aura that the storm brought.

“You know,” he starts, letting himself in before he squeezes the water from his rain-filled hair. “When I used to run Ghost, my agents were required to answer me immediately or they were fired.”

She scoffs. “Well, this isn’t the agency. How the fuck did you find me?” she asks him.

Midas snorts as he welcomes himself to her couch. “I’m a secretary, remember?”

Yellow becomes uncomfortable, but when he sits on her couch, she gasps angrily. “You stalker! I’m telling Jules you’re abusing your secretary duties and using my file to stalk me! Get the fuck off my couch, you’re literally soaked!”

Midas doesn’t move off the couch, but he ends up snorting cockily. “I would have had your blood type and entire life story if I had read your whole file.” he points out. “But anyway, we need to talk.”

Yellow whines as she goes to her bathroom to get a few towels. She drops two towels onto the taller man, ignoring him when he scoffs. She wasn’t his servant, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to help him dry.

He starts drying his hair first. “So. You’re the only one that’s going to know about this, for now.” he starts. “I think Jules is hiding something.”

Yellow raises a brow. “Is this a stunt to take the agency from her?”

“No. I’m serious. I have no idea what she is hiding thus far, but I’m getting a suspicious vibe from her. I don’t like it.”

“Soooo why are you telling me?” she inquires.

Midas sighs, rubbing his now dry face with his hand. “I miss running things. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be a secretary when you have golden hands? It’s humiliating.”

“Oh no, you have to work a minimum wage job. Your life must be difficult.” she huffs and turns her back to him as she busies herself with cleaning.   
Midas shakes his head, taking the time to look around the cabin in the silence. Yellow had a unique take on decor. With a honey yellow wallpaper and hanging stars, he was intrigued to say the least.

“I also…” he trails off before sighing and looking at her. “If something were to happen to me, I’d like to go on a date with you before it does.” he finally speaks up.

Yellow stops cleaning to look at the golden man before her, her face turning a bright red. Their blushes were nearly identical.

“You don’t have to say yes. But I’d like to see where things go. You’re… interesting, to say the least.”

“I’m confused. You want to go on a date with me because somethings going to happen to you?” she questions.

“Well no, I completely worded that wrong. I want to go on a date with you because you interest me. I’d like to get to know you if that makes sense.”

Yellow can feel the heat on her face travel to her neck and ears. Midas looks down at his hands when she doesn’t answer fast enough.

“I’d… I’d like that.” she finally speaks up. “But I’m picking the food place! Also, I got you a gift! I hope you like friendship bracelets.”

“So you’re friend-zoning me with a bracelet?” he asks, a smirk playing on his lips. 

“Shut up stupid, why would I go on a date with you if I was going to do that?” she huffs. “By the way, I'm picking what we're eating, too.” She tosses the friendship bracelet to him, him catching it without an issue. He looks over the bracelet, pleasantly impressed by it.

“Thank you, darling.” he gives her a smile that causes butterflies in her tummy to erupt.

“You’re welcome!” she grins. Despite Midas being wet, he does not expect a hug from her until he feels her arms wrap around him. He returns the gesture without hesitation, not wanting the moment to end.

He can hear his brain begin to overthink, and then…

_ You know you will have to let her go eventually, Midas. We had a deal _ , the deep voice of Oro finally reaches him.

Midas only tightens his embrace on her.

_ We have a deal, yes. But please, let me enjoy her… whatever this is, while I can. She didn’t do anything wrong. _

He feels himself pull her closer before she pulls back and gives him that smile that makes him weak at the knees.

_ I did. I brought her into this and I don’t know what to do. _


	12. Palladium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jules realizes that what she's about to do could change the future of everyone involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE ARE FINALLY AT THE MEAT AND POTATOES OF THE STORY

Few days pass and Midas is relieved to finally get a day off from this hell hole that his sister runs. Of course, his day off doesn't start until the moon rises. Tonight is date night between him and a certain Yellowjacket. He remembers how excited she got and tried so hard to hide. She could not hide such a beautiful smile from him. The date will consist of food and whatever else they can come up with, together. He sent her a text earlier in the day reminding her to dress cute, to which she replies, "We are going to Sticks. You don't need to be formal."

2:20 PM [King Midas to Bumblebee:] I still think formal dress matters. Don't you like to be presentable?

2:22 PM [Bumblebee to King Midas:] 🙈 who says i’m not presentable? did you want me to wear a dress to a casual place that serves fish? you’re crazy sir

2:24 PM [King Midas to Bumblebee:] You’re sassy. Someone should fix that.

2:28 PM [Bumblebee to King Midas:] BRUH, I KNOW WHERE YOU WORK DON’T TRY ME ILL COME OVER THERE AND BEAT YOU UP

2:29 PM [King Midas to Bumblebee:] 🙄

Heading to the breakroom for more coffee, Midas jumps when he hears a crash coming from Jules’s office, followed by a scream of rage.

“Scratch. Report to my office. Now.” Jules commands through everyone’s earpiece.

“Ma’am, we are unable to locate Scratch at this--” One henchman responds before Jules cuts him off.

“Did I ask for the results of his search? No. I asked for Scratch to report to my office. So why isn’t he reporting to my office, henchmen? Are all of you fucking dense?!” she screams the last part, causing Midas to cringe while he stirs sugar into his coffee.

“Ma’am, Scratch has no location at this time. Would you like us to locate another agent?” Another henchman responds this time, carefully choosing their words as to not upset their boss further.

“I want Hazard then. If you guys can’t find her either, you better give me a good enough explanation as to why because right now I have every reason to kill all of you!” she snaps.

Moments of silence pass before Hazard taps into the conversation. “You requested my service, boss?” she asks.

“My office. Now.” Jules ends the conversation, slamming her earpiece down on her desk angrily. Ohm chirps, tilting its head in her direction as if it’s asking her a question. Jules sighs. “I’m alright buddy… don’t worry about it, okay?” she tries to reassure her bird friend. Ohm shakes his wings, ridding himself of a few loose wires and bolts. Jules sadly giggles at him. “You always know how to cheer me up, Ohm.” she praises as she kisses his head.

On the way back to his office, Midas passes by Hazard in the corridor. They catch each other’s eye in silent greeting before Hazard knocks on Jules’ door and goes inside.

“Ma’am?” Hazard asks.

“I have a mission for you, Hazard. I’m sure you will benefit from this greatly,” Jules explains as she sits down in her chair. She motions her to take a seat as she folds her hands together. She sighs, closing her eyes as she tries to keep “A few days ago, Fusion and I had a major falling out that caused him to leave behind his earpiece. He is untrackable and none of our outside agents can locate him. This is where you come in. I want to know what this son of a bitch is doing. I have my suspicions, but I need confirmation of such claims,” she sorts through the pile of files on her desk until she pulls out Fusions file, dropping it in front of Hazard. 

Hazard looks through the file, nodding her head as she reads the information provided. “I will locate him, ma’am, you can trust me,” the green hair woman confirms.

“For your sake, I hope you are right,” Jules shoos her away. “Get started immediately. Do not come back until you have something valuable to report back,” she says.

Once Hazard is gone, Jules picks up her phone and calls somebody she had no plans of speaking with for a long, long time. It rings a few times, Jules’s anxiety growing with each second that the phone goes unanswered. Then the phone picks up and a heavy German accent fills Jules’s ear.

“Jules. Nice to finally hear from you. Have you called to apologize for leaving us behind? We sure miss you.” Rue asks, sarcasm present in her voice.

Jules closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as flashbacks of her time working under Chaos Agent flows through her mind.  _ She is not worth your anger, Jules _ , she reminds herself. “No, Rue. I need to talk to Chaos right now. I need a big favor from him.” she says politely through gritted teeth.

Rue giggles. “I don’t think so. You see, Chaos no longer has a use for you. Don’t you get it? You don’t get to call in demanding favors.” she says in a sickly manner. Jules could feel the wolf-like grin this woman had on her face. “You a phone call away from becoming a bounty, sweetie. Can’t imagine your… brother not trying to kill you for a taste of gold,” she laughs as Jules cringes. Her laugh is like nails to a chalkboard.

The mention of her brother sacrificing her for gold weighs heavy on her heart. She swallows hard, trying to rid herself of the guilt. Instead, she feels a sudden burst of rage. “You don’t understand Rue! I have something Chaos has been searching for. He can’t turn down this favor when it’s something he can benefit from. Put him on the damn phone bitch or I swear on God’s green flat earth I’ll kill you myself!” she snaps.

Rue stops laughing and the line goes quiet for what feels like an eternity before a familiar deep voice snaps Jules into attention. “Julia, sweetheart. Why are you calling?” Chaos Agent asks.

Jules swallows hard as she tries to find her voice. “I need your help, Chaos…” she finally speaks up, her confidence lacking. She cringes internally at how pathetic she sounds.

The line is quiet again before Chaos laughs loudly. “My help?  _ My help _ ? Child, you were the one who betrayed me after everything I have done for you! I gave you a home when your parents passed away, and I taught you everything there is to know about engineering. I taught you the most advanced form of martial arts, then you decided you were too good for my organization and created your own and stole most of my agents. So unless if you have something on the table for me, don’t you dare ask me for a favor.” he snaps.

Tears fill Jules’s eyes and she tries to keep her voice as normal as possible. “My brother. I will give you everything you need on him and more,” her voice cracks towards the end, her biting her lip.

Chaos Agent continues to laugh, amused by the situation at hand. “Midas? You are willing to give up your brother to get a favor from me? How shameless… heartless…” he says. “Monsters are common in your family, huh Julia? Tell me, what made you want to give him up so easily? Is it the greed eating away at you… or does it bother you that you’ll never be as powerful as him? Do you feel like second best? Does it bother you that I still hold him to the highest regard despite my hatred for him?” he teases the young girl.

She tries to sniffle quietly, her grip tightening on her phone as she grits her teeth. “Monster or not, I’m better than he is. I would never flood out this island for my selfish desires. I have files on people he’s close with. I have vials of blood you can use to make super soldiers made of gold… take your pick. I just need some of that serum you’ve been working on.”

“Oh sure. How many vials do you need, Julia? Surely you know how this stuff works. It’s certainly an upgrade from the clones like Hazard and Toxin, which I used GHOST agent DNA to replicate… or the unfortunate lab accident that is Fusion came to be…” he chuckles. 

Biting her tongue she takes a moment before answering him. “Yes. I am aware. I was there when you developed it.”

“You’ve always been so smart, Julia.” Chaos praises her sarcastically. “That’s why I gave you everything you needed to succeed. I did what your parents failed to do. They coddled you and when you were brought to me, I thought you were a lost cause. A mistake even, but you defied all odds. You were dedicated to being loyal to me, but now... I will admit, I never expected you to betray your brother so fast. Perhaps this is a skill I failed to notice within you. I’m interested to see where this goes.”

“He should die, Chaos sir,” she gulps. “I don’t have special powers as he does and yet I’ve succeeded in so much. You take away his powers and he is nothing.”

_ Midas, I am so, so, so very sorry. _

“We will discuss the plan in email. I’ll send the files as well. One of the files happens to be a potential love interest of his. Look into it.” she explains to him.

_ But you cannot be here anymore. You’ve destroyed everything and I can’t have a repeat of what happened to the island again. _

“I shall. Julia, I am glad we had this talk. I will ensure this plan is executed successfully. Oh and, if I find out you are lying to me… I will kill you with my bare hands. Are we clear?”

Jules fights the feeling of bile rising in her throat at the comment. The tears don’t stop flowing and she sniffles hard accidentally. “Yes… sir. Crystal clear,” she answers finally.

“There’s my girl.” he chuckles. “Remember, I was the family you had when you had nobody. You are like a daughter to me.”

_ Yet you’re willing to kill me if I fail you… _

“Thanks… sir,” she says quietly.

“Stop crying. You are a leader of an organization that lives off of destruction. There is no reason to cry over the carnage you create.” With that, he hangs up, leaving the girl to her thoughts.

She throws her phone at the wall, not caring if the screen shatters as she covers her face in shame.  _ How dare you cry, this was your idea. You’re weak _ , her mind taunts her. Ohm chirps and hops from his perch and onto her desk to try and comfort her. 


	13. Iridium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Midas and Yellow come to accept mutual feelings.

Yellow sits at a booth during rush hour at the Sticks. She had been lucky to get a window booth and can rest her legs on the seat. Arriving 15 minutes early, Yellow figured she would get a table before they were at full capacity. She would spend time looking out the window and admiring the moon that danced on the horizon, or playing on her phone before she would look around, looking for any signs of the golden king before she’d look back down. She was excited that he hadn’t backed out (to her knowledge) from this date. She made sure to doll herself up to look somewhat presentable for this man. After all, she did want to impress him in her way. She settled for a baggy yellow hoodie, black leggings, and black boots.

Midas enters the establishment 5 minutes after the agreed time. Hoping she would still be here waiting for him, he looks around and sees her sitting at a window booth, lost on her phone. He smiles and approaches the table. “Hey you,” he says, making her jump. 

She sees it is him and sighs in relief. “Scared me,” she says, causing him to laugh.

“Been waiting long?” he asks as he sits across from her. Yellow shakes her head, giving him a small smile that gets the butterflies fluttering within him. He notices her legs in the seat and raises a brow. “Well I can tell your table manners are exquisite,” he jokes.

Yellow rolls her eyes. “Live a little, goldie,” she huffs. “This isn’t some 5 star, 1000 v-bucks kind of eatery. People are actually chill here.”

A waiter approaches their table with a basket of fries. “What would you two like to drink today?” they ask.

“Apple juice!” Yellow exclaims, grinning.

“I’ll have a glass of wine, please.” Midas answers. 

Yellow raises her brow at him and he returns the look, making her laugh. “Wine, really?” she asks him as she reaches for some of the fries. She eats them quickly, not ashamed of burping, and taking more out of the basket. 

“Fries, really?” he shoots back.

“Yes really!” she laughs.

Midas smiles and for once in a good long while, he’s content with how things are going.

X Lord and Wildcard sit a few tables down from their both. X watches them laugh and flirt with one another. “I don’t trust him, Wild.” he huffs. 

  
Wildcard wipes his mouth with a napkin. “They seem to be having a lot of fun.” he points out.

X Lord stops a passing waiter and requests parmesan for his shrimp pasta. As the waiter grates the cheese, X Lord continues to watch. 

Yellow and Midas keep laughing and eating their food. They tell jokes back and forth to each other.

"Sir?" The waiter gets X's attention. "I need to go get more parmesan, or is this enough?" He asks.

"I want more, please," X tells the waiter.

"Sir, you have a lot on your pla--" X cuts them off. "I said I wanted MORE. I didn't ASK what YOU think about it."

The waiter forces a smile. "Of course sir. More parmesan coming right up."

A loud giggle grabs X's attention. He sees Midas leaning forward on the table and Yellow shoving something in his mouth.

Midas sits back in a huff and eats the hushpuppy as he glares at Yellow. Yellow grins at the grumpy man. "See? Doesn't taste bad at all!"

There was something about her carefree personality that made Midas’s glare soften on her and instead, smile. She showed a whole different side of her outside of work and he was enjoying it. "You're right. These are delightful, darling." He nods, trying another one. Both of them reach for the ketchup bottle at the same time, their hands brushing one another. Yellow blushes and pulls her hand away with a nervous giggle. He hands her the bottle after he uses it on his food and she thanks him quietly.

X Lord rolls his eyes and shoos the waiter away when he gives up on spying on the couple. Wildcard raises a brow. "You're going to eat all that parm?" He asks.

"Yes? Why wouldn't I? Do you know who doesn't like parme? Barbarians." X Lord replies with a huff.

"Whatever you say, babe."

Street lamps light up the area and the scent of saltwater delight Yellows senses as her and Midas leave the restaurant. They walk close together, Yellow enjoying his company. "So, I wanted to ask why you wanted to go on a date with me, Midas?" She asks as she breaks the silence between them.

"I already told you why, doll." He replies, looking down at her.

"Yeah, you said that you wanted to go out with me before something happens to you. What if I wanna do this again? I can't if something happens to you." She huffs, crossing her arms as she pouts. Something Midas is starting to find adorable.

He blinks a few times, her statement taking a moment to register in his mind. "You want to go on another date?" He asks.

"Duh!" She scoffs. "Of course I do! But if something happens to you, I won't be able too and I'll be sad."

Midas blushes, clearing his throat and looking away. "Didn't know you had a good time."

"Why wouldn't I? Everyone says you're boring because you're serious all the time, but I don't listen. I wanted to see you for myself. I had a great time." She smiles.

He couldn't fight off the smile growing on his face. "You really don't listen to others, do you?" He jokes.

"I don't." She states proudly.

They spend time asking each other questions back and forth on their way back to her cabin. Yellow kicks her boots off into her shoe pile once they’re inside. Removing her hoodie and throwing it somewhere, Midas blinks a few times and sighs quietly in disappointment when he sees she has a shirt on. Though he admires the skin that is showing, like her arms. He shakes his head, scolding himself for such inappropriate thoughts.

“Want something to drink?” her voice pulls him from his thoughts.

“I doubt you have scotch.” he chuckles.

She rolls her eyes as she pours some orange juice for herself. “Yeah sorry, I’m not rich like you.”

Midas takes his time to look over her place for a second time, nodding his head. “Yet, you seem to be better off on the salary Jules pays you.”

“Can’t complain about that. Most of the stuff came from my bedroom when I lived with my parents. The rest, like the hanging ornaments? Craft store hunts. I love shiny things.” Moving past him, he watches her as she picks up a teddy bear from her small bed to move it to the couch.

“Still sleep with stuffed animals?” he questions.

“Yeah, what about it goldie? His name is Mr. Bear if you must know. I’ve had him since I was small.” 

He acknowledges her statement with a hum. She swears she heard “cute” slip from his lips as he looks up. He taps one of the ornaments above his head, gold slowly encasing it. Yellow can’t help to blush at that small gesture. “Leaving your touch here?” she asks with amusement as she moves back to the kitchen.

“I think you need it,” he answers, a cocky smirk on his face as he crosses his arms.

“I need it, or the ornaments need it?” she asks for clarification.

“How about both?” he steps closer to her, boxing her in against the counter she’s standing by.

Yellow blushes, feeling it spread to her neck as she looks up at the taller man. She should move away, but her legs wouldn’t allow it. “Midas--” he hushes her when she feels his cold fingers slip under her shirt and stopping at her hips. Shuddering, she doesn’t stop him but rather turns to face him fully. His eyes move from hers to her lips and back again, as if indecisive on what to do.

Her hands play with his tie and his breath hitches as he watches her do so. Being touch starved for a while now, Midas knew he needed to control himself. But when she gets on her tiptoes to be a little taller for him, Midas could feel himself heat up.

“If you kiss me, you are stuck with me,” he warns, trying to make himself sound confident in what he was saying.

“Hmm, you don’t sound like yourself. You okay?” she asks playfully as she bites her lip.

Grunting, he only presses her up against the counter in reply, making Yellow gasp. He could smell a light perfume she must have put on for their date. The smell was fruity, something he could certainly grow to love.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret Yellow,” he warns her, but it goes unheard.

Time seems to slow when Yellow presses her lips to his. The fireworks she felt along with the racing of her heart makes her legs feel like jelly. Midas finds himself pressing her against the counter again so she doesn’t fall, his hands immediately grabbing her own. She felt a warmth she didn’t know how to explain and a blanket of safety washed over her. He takes charge of the kiss and deepens it, his hands moving up her arms and into her hair, tugging on it gently.

They break apart when a clap of lightning startles them both. Yellow is still pressed against the counter and lightly panting, her hands are on his arms. Midas moves his hand from her hair to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I need to stop before I lose control of myself,” he tells her as he looks over her hands glittering with gold and the golden highlights that decorated her black hair. Her lips also had traces of gold as well, which he was proud of.

A loud tap against one of the windows makes Yellow jump and hold onto the golden man, only to sigh in relief when it was just a tree branch. Midas notices the rain coming down at a rapid pace and he sighs. “I’m not going out there when it is like this,” he tells her.

“You’re sleeping on the couch though.” she points out.

“That’s fine. I can respect a woman’s space.” he shrugs. Yellow smiles and wiggles her way out of his hold to move away. The golden king can’t help but bite his lip at the golden handprint he left on her hip whenever her shirt would ride up.

They settle on movies and snacks so they can keep the storm anxiety under control. Sharing kisses every so often, Yellow had no problem cuddling into his side as they enjoyed some cheesy rom-com. Midas? Well, he was certainly content. For once his brain wasn’t reeling with doubt or self-hatred. It was obvious she had no regrets in kissing him and perhaps it was because she saw something within him that he had yet to see.

For once, he didn’t have to care about himself. Just her.

Soon enough, he hears soft snoring beside him and noticed she had fallen asleep. Careful not to wake her up, he lays her down on the couch with a few pillows, a blanket, and Mr. Bear. Before he leaves, he turns the rest of her hanging ornaments to gold and leaves another gold rose on the coffee table for her when she wakes up.

The rays of the morning sun make Yellowjacket stir awake. At first, she did not recognize where she was until she sees the TV still on and Mr. Bear in her arms that she realizes she fell asleep on the couch. In a panic, she kicks the blankets off, worried that they did something. Seeing as she still had the same clothes on, she sighs in relief. Sitting up, her eyes land on the coffee table. The table had been cleaned of snacks and a golden rose laid there. Yellow smiles as she picks it up and admires it. Butterflies fill her stomach again as if this is the first time he ever gave her a rose.

The sun shines into the cabin, causing Yellow to direct her attention to the hanging ornaments. She gasps softly when she sees all of them are gold, the light reflecting off of each ornament giving it a shiny glow. She looks to her hands afterward, blushing madly when she sees the golden handprints from Midas on her wrists. Mr. Bear was also turned to gold and he kept the same softness from when he wasn’t golden. Yellow giggles and hugs the teddy bear as thoughts of Midas race through her mind.

If one thing was for certain, Yellow couldn’t deny her feelings for the golden king any longer.


	14. Bohrium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which things are about to get a lot worse

Within a week, Midas finds himself moving out of the temporary room Jules assigned him and into an apartment at Lazy Lake. When he had found out that Jules was sending her henchmen to spy on him by finding photos on her desk of him doing things such as going on that date with Yellowjacket, along with his open file, he was livid to say the least. Cornering a few of her henchmen led to them begging for mercy and admitting that Jules had sent them to do the task, he spared their lives. Jules played dumb, however, which only soured his mood more. While he did not quit his job, he found himself weighing his options carefully now.

So here he stands in front of his new apartment, hands on his hips as Guild and Seeker struggle to carry the heavy boxes of stuff he paid them handsomely to move. “If you drop even a single box, you two will become additional statues to my collection,” he remembers threatening both men, especially Guild, who has a history of stealing valuables. 

“Your sister is insane, bro.” A gruff voice pulls Midas out of his thoughts. Seeker snorts, crossing his arms.

“She’s your boss.” Midas reminds him.

“Even so man, Guild and I have noticed how off she's been acting. To send the henchmen to watch your every movement? Some weird shit if you ask me. You must have really pissed her off if she’s escalating to that point.”

Midas snorts bitterly as he crosses his arms. “She’s just doing her job. I have no power over this island anymore. She does.”

“There’s a small group of people who are trying to lead a rebellion. You didn’t hear it from me but I can give you the contact information of their leader. Bros before sis, Midas.”

Midas could feel himself mentally rolling his eyes into the back of his head at that. He shakes his head and sighs. “Sure, I suppose.

It is sunset by the time the help leaves. Midas stands in the middle of his bare living room deciding what decor he needs to brighten the space. He texts Yellow to ask for additional assistance to which she accepts happily. By nightfall, they were at Retail Row going through the many shops. A date, one would call it. 

"Aw, what a lovely couple! Are you two moving in together?" One receptionist asks with a bright smile. Yellows face turns red while Midas clears his throat and is not looking at the smaller girl beside him. Their hands stay laced together.

"Uh, no actually. I was wondering if you had any decor swatches I can look at? Got a new place at Lazy, needs a major upgrade."

The receptionist nods, still keeping her bright smile intact. “We do. In fact, we can send someone out to go through swatches with you if you don’t want to spend your time in the shop looking."

The golden man thinks for a moment before shaking his head. “I’d rather do swatching here.”

Midas and Yellowjacket spend the next two hours going through the many books of decor swatches the shop provided. In that amount of time Yellow has learned one thing: Midas is one picky son of a gun. A few of the swatches she picks out were simple decors with gold and reasonably priced furniture. He turned his nose at each one, seeming offended that she’d even question his capabilities of affording things. 

"You know, Midas," she starts, "There is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion on things."

The golden man scoffs as he moves his attention from a fool’s gold swatch to look at the girl sitting across from him. "Be lucky I even invited you along." He points out.

She shoots him an irritated look as she crosses her arms. "I mean, I could always leave, it’s getting late anyway--” she stands up to gather her bag and pick up the swatch books she had been looking at.

She turns away when Midas stands up. “Wait--”

Turning her head towards him, she gives him a once over before motioning him to speak. “What do you want?” she asks.

“I didn’t--” he sighs, “I didn’t mean to come off as dickish just now. I just thought you weren’t happy with me rejecting your ideas.”

“I’m pretty sure you meant that but okay. Maybe try hearing someone out when they offer ideas instead of acting like an arrogant know it all?”

He was speechless at the response. His eyes wide and mouth opening and closing. No one had the guts to talk to him this way before and he knew Yellow didn't fear him like the rest. He couldn't find the words and he could tell her patience was running thin.

"Well when you're done looking at me and acting like a fish trying to get air, I'll see you at work tomorrow." She huffs, making her way out of the building.

Taking in the cool night air, Yellow’s eyes stop on a Shadow henchman standing in the now empty parking lot leaning against a light post and smoking a cigarette. She nods her head towards him, a silent greeting as she passes by. The henchmen don’t reply, but rather watch her as she leaves. Midas leaves the building alone moments later, making the henchman’s attention fixate on him.

Midas makes eye contact with him, irritation that was already present beginning to grow more. "You should go home. There's nothing here to report to my sister." It was a blunt statement, one that would catch anybody off guard. To his surprise, however, the henchman steps on his finished cigarette and shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Nothing that we do not already know sir."

Midas chuckles at this response as he resists the urge to act out of anger. "Yeah? Tell me, henchman, do you really think she cares about any of you? I mean, you're all disposable as far as she's concerned and when she needs more of you it's no problem to recruit other unknowing candidates to take your place."

The henchman doesn't respond, just continues to stare at him through his sunglasses. Midas bites back a frustrated growl. "Whatever, mate." He takes his leave, the hatred that was beginning to grow for his sister and her antics was going to solidify soon, and he didn't know if he could control it.

As Yellow flops down onto her bed, she hears her phone on the nightstand vibrate once, twice, three times. She hesitates before a fourth vibration makes her sigh and grab her phone to look at it.

09:17 pm Midas: hey

09:17 pm Midas: I'm sorry

09:19 pm Midas: you were right and I should have heard you out

09:21 pm Midas: you know it's been a week since we had that kiss and its obvious we are due for another one

She sighs as she resists the urge to roll her eyes. 

09:25 pm you: okay well I'm in bed trying to sleep because I have work in the morning, we can talk about this then

09:27 pm Midas: haha without me?

_ Okay, fuck this _ , she decides. 

09:30 pm you: yes without you. good night.

She silences her phone and cuddles into Mr. Bear, forgetting the world around her and falling into a deep sleep.

It took Hazard a week to find Fusion, but when she did, she made sure to follow every step he took. She noted the many locations the man went to, the people he spoke with, and his behaviors. She wanted to give Jules peace of mind, to reassure her that her boyfriend was just taking a vacation.

She couldn't have been more wrong. It was already suspicious to the young girl when she watched Fusion enter Slurpy Swamp and go into the factory. She remembered being here before when Chaos Agent was still alive.

_ Wait… that's not possible… _ her mind tries to rationalize. He was dead. Everyone knew that Midas turned him into gold.

As she sneaks into the factory, her usually silent steps make tiny taps on the metal floor. What she stumbled into took her breath away. She must have found the lab because of the many experiment pods and computers. To the average eye, this place would be nothing more than the usual lab. But Hazard couldn't shake off the feeling of dread that was beginning to form in her stomach.

Putting her ear to the metal door, she could make out what sounded like a muffled conversation.

"...The serum is in its final stages."

"But we will not give that to Jules. No. She cannot be trusted."

Hazard’s eyes widen.

"Chaos Agent wishes to dispose of Jules after we obtain Midas."

_ He's alive. _

A female voice with a heavy German accent causes Hazard to jump.

"Jules has decided on three candidates for the trial run. Surely this is her way of how you say… buying time. We will give her the old trials of the serum. If the plan works, they will bring us Midas as well as take her out once and for all."

Hazard moves back from the door, her heart pounding so loud in her ears that she doesn't hear the person approaching behind her. She doesn't notice the steel pipe swinging at her until it connects with her head and knocking her back with a scream. Her back hits the door with a harsh thud. Ringing fills her ears as her blurred vision could make out black combat boots. The person in front of her squats down, false pitty paints their face.

"It's a damn shame really," a familiar country accent causes Hazard’s stomach to drop. "So you're on Jules's side and you're spying on us? No problem. You'll make the perfect guinea pig for what Chaos has in store for you."

Hazard winces as the blow from the steel pipe causes her head to throb. "Tina, it’s not what it looks--" she's cut off abruptly by another hard blow to her side. Hazard yells, choking on some blood as Tina looks down at her with pure hatred.

"But it is exactly what it looks like." Tina taps her earpiece. "Chaos, come to the lab. I have a gift for you."

Hazard sees another pair of shoes in front of her. It wasn't until she saw a sludge hand in front of her face that her vision went black.


End file.
